Lost legends of Pear Tree

From the highs of a nostalgic childhood to the lows of his father’s suicide, author Kalwinder Singh Dhindsa’s life is one of loss and rejuvenation.

- Nathan Fearn

Life in 1980s Derby wasn’t always particularly easy. Gripped by a series of harsh winters which mirrored periods of economic gloom, the city had its fair share of issues to navigate as the decade progressed.

The start of the decade had even witnessed the city’s football team, Derby County, slump to the second tier of English football; a far cry from the days of Championship triumphs and glorious European adventures just a few years before.

It was against this backdrop that Kalwinder Singh Dhindsa grew up, in the Normanton area of Derby. His childhood was, however, an altogether happier affair.

‘I had a lot of family members around me – my mother’s brothers and sisters and my father’s brothers were all within walking distance so we had cousins very close to home,’ recalls Kal.

‘We all had our own little world that we happily played in; external factors didn’t really affect us that much.’

The area of Normanton that Kal called home was, at the time, synonymous with the aforementioned Derby County; with the Rams’ famous Baseball Ground a stone’s throw from his house.

While memories of the glory days of the mid to late 1970s under Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, and then again under Dave Mackay, were fading, having the club embedded so prominently in the community gave the area a special feel.

‘Living in Pear Tree, every few days there would be a football match at the Baseball Ground and the streets would be full of people,’ he rememebers.