The Boy Done Good!

Borrowing a phrase often uttered by football pundits on TV "The boy done good" despite its grammatical errors seems a good way to describe the achievements of one of Ilkeston's own, Robert Lindsay. The town welcomed back its famous son for a special event last week.


The Olivier and Tony award winning actor, star of stage, screen and television has never forgotten his roots or his home town and he returned to follow in the footsteps of the late Diana, Princess of Wales who opened the Community Hospital in 1987 to perform another opening ceremony, that of a new operating theatre.

Robert has certainly done well for himself in his chosen profession but knows that when he returns to Ilkeston, he will not be hounded as a celebrity but just treated as one of our own of whom we are justly proud. However this was a special occasion and the trappings of celebrity were all around following his arrival in a chauffeur driven white Rolls Royce as he was filmed for the TV news bulletins. Accompanied by his 85 year old father Norman, also seen in the foreground of the above picture, Robert was quick to acknowledge the fund-raisers of the Rotary Club and the League of Friends. It was they who raised the money to cover the cost of the theatre and its equipment. The new facility at the hospital will enable local people to undergo minor surgery on hands, eyes and skin growths.

Robert also said that Ilkeston is a town with a great sense of community, something that he misses but something he can always come back to. He was also acutely aware that unveiling the plaque in the hospital was just a minor deed when compared to the efforts of the fund-raisers but his good deed in performing the task adds another dimension to that hackneyed phrase "The boy done good!"

The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become the best that you can become. - Harold Taylor (1914 - 1993)