The name George Freestone will not be familiar to most of you. He neither sought nor did he gain fame. George is one of the kindest men I ever met. When I was a kid, whenever he saw me in the street he would thrust his hand in to his pocket and hand me a two shilling piece or if he had had a good week, half a crown. George was a brick layer by trade. Anyone meeting George for the first time would probably not be over whelmed by his personality. However, they would be struck by the fact that they had just met an extremely nice gentleman. Not long after I had published my book, George stopped me in the street one day. He told me he had written a small book about his neighbours and wanted me to read it and give him my opinion. The book turned out to be several sheets of paper on which George had written the names of everyone that lived in his street and the surrounding area. It really amounted to a list of names and occupations. None-the-less, all these people had made such an impact on George that he had remembered them and had taken the trouble to write their names down and a few lines about them. Since then, Castletown Heritage have used George’s recollections and have ensured that they are kept for posterity. Just a couple of years ago, I was sitting in the hair dresses having my hair cut, when George arrived assisting an old lady in to the shop, and calling back to collect her later. He was getting old himself then but was still helping other folk out whenever he could. George typifies that old saying. “It’s nice to be important but it’s much more important to be nice!” When I stop and think about all the famous people I have admired, footballers, singers and so on, of course I only remember them with regards to their profession. I.e. goals scored, records made, speeches by politicians. I think George is much more worthy. I remember him simply for being kind and nice. Yes, if I had a hall of fame, pride of place amongst the footballers, pop stars and writers, would be that wonderful gentle and kind hearted builder, George Freestone.

Tom Glassey on the banks of the Silverburn River.