Last Thursday and Friday I was contacted by a few of the national media. The local newspaper had published a report by a rugby player which on the face of it insulted Castleford.
The first thing I wanted to do before commenting was to check the facts. I phoned the local newspaper. The report was from an interview in a Australian newspaper, a copy of which had been sent to this country. The player was answering a query asking what was the worst place he had visited. I could imagine that he gave an exaggerated off the cuff remark, thinking it would go no further. However, it did and for a brief time attracted national attention.
It was not a true picture, I told them, a northern stereotype that rarely exists in real life. Too kind. Only the BBC took up my reply for their website producing a balanced and interesting story. I think the others were disappointed that I would not get into trading insults with the man!
So, he said we don’t wash, like boozing, have rotten teeth. Most people here are not like that. He claims the place is dull and grey but a look at my web site shows many beautiful sites around here. Okay, it is not perfect here, but it has a lot going for it.
I enjoyed Katy Guest’s account of this story in the Independent. She summed it so well. Basically, we were supposed to have been insulted, so what?
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