Snap! Photographer tracks down the people he pictured in a town 30 years ago... and gets them to strike the same pose

By Paul Harris for the Daily Mail
Updated: 03:15 EDT, 26 May 2010

They were only fleeting moments in time. A kiss on a station platform... a ticking-off from the local bobby... a sip from a can of drink in the street. But the split second it took to capture these everyday images would allow them to endure for the next three decades.

None of the people in the pictures realised they were being photographed. The couple saying goodbye at the station clearly had other things on their mind. Had it not been for the curiosity of photographer Chris Porsz, they might have remained anonymous for ever.

But last year he became intrigued by the idea of discovering the story behind the pictures he had taken in Peterborough in the early Eighties.

Then and now: Tony and Sally say farewell as long-distance lovers in 1980 and, right, strike the same pose at Peterborough station. Now Mr and Mrs Wilmot, the couple have been married 26 years and have two grown-up children

There is no shortage of then-and-now snapshots of the city through the ages, but Chris didn't want to find out what happened to the buildings. He wanted the people.

With the help of an appeal in the local newspaper, he set about trying to trace them. Now, in a delightful epilogue, he has a new set of pictures of some of the same people reenacting the moment captured all those years ago.

Perhaps the most appealing is that of the young man and woman on platform five at Peterborough station. Their Brief Encounter-style parting was captured in 1982 and is one of Mr Porsz's favourite images.

But who were they? And where are they now?

Step forward Tony and Sally Wilmot. Tony's parents recognised him in the local paper's appeal and showed him the original photograph. It was taken when the couple were working in different parts of the country before they were married.

'I think we must have met up at my parents in Peterborough for a family occasion,' says Tony.

Still together: Trudie and Dave Talbot were snapped on what she believes was her 21st birthday and, right, posing again outside Peterborough Cathedral after 30 years of marriage, with rather different looking cans of Vimto and, of course, a different dog, They have three grown-up children.

'Sally's train went back slightly later than mine, so she was seeing me off. I had absolutely no idea the photo had been taken. At the time, we thought the platform was empty.'

The couple, both head teachers in Lichfield, Staffordshire, invited their son Tom, 22, and daughter Jenny, 20, to watch the reconstruction of their fond farewell.

'We often didn't see each other for three or four weeks, so it was a significant parting,' says Sally.

'It's hard for our children to understand because nowadays everyone has mobiles and it's easy to text. But back then we had to find a call box if we wanted to contact each other.'

Not much has changed at the station, except for the trains. Pulldown windows are history, so farewell kisses can only be exchanged perilously through an open door.

Tim Woodman was a 12-year- old when Chris snapped him being given a good talking-to by a policeman.

Now married with six children, the coach company executive says: 'I'm not sure what the policeman was saying, but I imagine he may have been ticking me off about cycling on the path.'

Where's the road gone? PC Dave Harvey was in his first year of policing when he was snapped chatting to Tim Goodman, 12. Mr Harvey has recently retired from the force, while Mr Goodwin now runs a coach company in Peterborough

Nor does the officer recall what happened that day. David Harvey was a probationary constable pounding the beat in the city centre in the days when coppers did that routinely.

He retired last year as a superintendent with Cambridgeshire police after 30 years in the force.

'I showed the photo to my son, who has just completed his first year in the Met police,' he says.

'It was lovely for him to see me at the same age and a great memento of my police career.'

Health-care assistant Trudie Talbot was celebrating her 21st birthday when she was pictured.

She had taken Zeb the Afghan hound into town with her husband Dave, who had just rushed back from working on an oil rig to be with his bride of six months.

Still taking pictures: Paramedic and keen photographer Chris Porsz pictured in 1982 and, right, as he is now

Now they have three daughters - and a poignant souvenir.

'My 21st birthday was a significant moment in my life and it's amazing that Chris captured it,' says Trudie.

'I remember it was a lovely day with Dave being home and it's great to have a lasting reminder. I'm not sure why we were drinking Vimto, but I guess it was a favourite at the time.'

Chris, a 56-year-old paramedic, has a huge portfolio of pictures taken in Peterborough over the years.

' I love capturing spontaneous moments and taking pictures of people,' he says.

'If something caught my eye, I would snap it. But if I'd asked the subjects to pose, it would have ruined it.'

He has enjoyed recreating the pictures so much that he is hoping to trace more of the people in his photos and to publish them in a book.

Are you in any of these photos?

If you recognise yourself or someone you know, email nostalgia@dailymail.co.uk or call 020 7938 6372.

Everybody needs good neighbours: Who are the friendly duo chatting over the garden fence in 1980? Or can you name the Teddy boys striding down the high street?

Days and nights out: Are you one of the baby-faced shoppers out in 1985 - or perhaps one of the not-so-innocent revellers enjoying a night out in Peterborough?

If you recognise yourself or someone you know in any of these photographs, email nostalgia@dailymail.co.uk or call 020 7938 6372