Long ago (1960) there was an operative in the International Harvesters plant in Bradford. His name was Geoffrey Brindley. Suddenly one afternoon he walked out and punched in his last time ticket. He was going to live in a cave near Settle and find God.
Some time later he was spotted in Bradford moving in mysterious ways and wearing a monk's habit. He was known for his cheeriness and occasional aggressive shouting. As the generations evolved many legends grew up around him. The truth is he lived with a friend in Baildon. He was "spotted" so many times a website was set up to track his movements.
In 2012 he had 20,000+ facebook nominations to carry the Olympic Torch through Bradford. He declined the offer in a modest way.
When he died in August 2015, at the age of 88, it left Bradford and most of West Yorkshire without their semi-mythical hero. The news even made the national press.
Since his death there have been facebook campaigns for a statue to commemorate him. Unfortunately Bradford MDC seem reluctant to honour this walking legend. A condolence book has been set up by his fans though.
Lovely man. I knew him from being a child. Long time ago my Mum used to let him sleep in our outside toilet when the weather was bad-like 1 foot of snow on the ground. She gave him a blanket and a cup of tea and bacon butty on many occasions. She told him to stay there anytime when it was snowing. She said he could come and stay inside but he wouldn't and always went to the outside lavvy as an option so he could get up early and leave quietly. Interesting holy person. Bradford won't be the same without him.
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