(Btw, if anyone’s got anyone’s got any good reccos for Warlord-era China books, lemme know as I am willing to put in double shifts down this particular batshit mine)
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Absolutely gutted to hear that this absolutely legend - Barry Smith - has passed away.
If you ever worked in learning disability care in Leeds, or had reason to knock about around the outdoor market, you’ll know Barry. He was beyond one-in-a-million.
We worked together in the first job I had when I washed up in Leeds. Within minutes of meeting me he told me:
“There’s only three things I’ve wanted in life: To be an art teacher, a sheet metal worker and a gunsmith. AND I’VE DONE THEM ALL.”
And that was just the tip of the iceberg as it quickly became apparent that there was nothing about Leeds that he didn’t know. A shift with Barry would take in a grand sweep of local history, from the cholera pit that you happened to be walking over to the history of stamped tin.