Back Page: Last Word

Now this is a really knotty one. Just what should I do with Mike Baldwin's tie?

Thanks to a very effective letter-writing campaign by one of our youth workers, this little piece of soap memorabilia is now the unlikely property of Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and currently sitting in my office.

One of our youth workers had been busy working on a project based around soap opera story lines so I suggested she should write to the producers of Emmerdale, EastEnders and the rest asking if they had anything she could use to pep up the programme.

Most of them were good enough to reply to her and sent us a few photos that we could hand out to young people. But someone at Granada must have been feeling generous and decided to not only send us some postcards but also to let us have an item of celebrity clothing. Trouble is, it was one of Mike Baldwin's ties. Complete with a certificate of authenticity, should we ever need it.