This information used to be on the main page, but that got bloated, so this stuff, which is rarely altered, is placed here.
This group had been going for a year or two when I joined. At any time there were about 6 people living there, all at the University for varying reasons. We were all Trappies to some extent or another, and we all spent a great deal of our spare time playing tabletop role-playing games or slobbing in front of the telly watching crap programmes. One of our favourites was "Top of the Pops". We waited all week so that we could complain about the rubbish on that ( this was the era of Rick Astley ! ).
After several years of suffering terrible conditions, the collective inertia was overcome, and we moved to "The Pershore Road In Exile", this was a similar house in better repair sited in the middle of Balsall Heath, Birmingham's Red Light District. On a few occasions one of us was stopped for kerb-crawling when trying to leave our road! It did, however have the advantage of being very close to Edgbaston Cricket Ground, so we could here the crowd cheer in the unlikely event of an England success in the cricket.
All good things must come to an end ( but Eastenders can continue forever ), and the day came when degrees were handed out all round. Many went off to the great centres of learning; Oxford, Cambridge and Amsterdam. We still keep in touch, for games, a supreme Christmas Party, and a holiday once a year to various castles that we hire for a week ( thank you Landmark Trust for a brilliant holiday concept ). While these continue, the Pershore Road can never die.
What's In A Name? -The Meaning of Toerag
I have been called "Toerag" for so many years that I almost forget why. "Toerag" is an old Victorian-era epithet given to beggars and "guttersnipes" who infested the alleys of London. The name was derived from the fact that they could not afford shoes or socks, and therefore wrapped rags about their feet to protect them.
It later developed into a general term of abuse, especially amongst the London underworld of the 1960's. It gained more common usage when it was broadcast in "The Sweeney" and "Minder" TV programmes as an acceptable alternative to more accurate swearing ( similar to "Red Dwarf's" smeg ! ).
I was named "Toerag" by Dr. Michael Ibeji, a friend of mine at Birmingham Uni, officially a member of the Pershore Road Mob, and now the TV producer responsible for "Warrior School". There were too many "Gareth"s of his acquaintance, so he reversed the name in my case to arrive at "Hterag". From little acorns grew my name.
Over the years, it has become increasingly common parlance; I've been phoned by my mother in a house I've lived in for 6 months to discover that she was told that no-one called Gareth lived there ! It even got onto my marriage certificate, and Megan's and Sara's birth certificates.
The name has evolved, and is now often "Mr. Rag", or "Dr. Rag".
