Old friends meet again

Oct 14 2009 by Jackie Grant, Dumfries Standard Wednesday

DUMFRIES Provost Jack Groom relived his youth on Sunday night when he came face to face with a blast from his past.

When Jack heard that 60s’ pop group Gerry and The Pacemakers were coming to perform at DG One in Dumfries, he took the opportunity to go along and meet his old pal Gerry Marsden.

Jack knew frontman Gerry since before he hit the big time with hits such as You’ll Never Walk Alone and Ferry ’Cross The Mersey.

Jack said: “My dad was from Liverpool and I used to go and stay with my gran there during the school summer holidays when I was a boy.

“My best pal there was Mike Turner, whose cousin was Pauline Behan.

“Pauline married Gerry Marsden 44 years ago and it was through Mike that I got to know him.

“We all used to go to the Cavern Club at lunchtimes to listen to bands like The Beatles and The Searchers.”

On Sunday night, Jack was delighted when Gerry invited him backstage for a chinwag.

He said: “It was great to see Gerry again after all these years and nice to see he is still as down to earth as he always was, with no airs and graces.

“It certainly brought back some lovely memories for me and we had a good laugh reminiscing.”