Sunday 28 October 2007

The Wolverhampton ring road tramp
















Every so often, you come across an instance where those in positions of power or authority behave in ways that restore your faith in basic human decency and common sense. For the past 30 years or more, one such example could be found at the unlikely location of the central reservation of a Wolverhampton ring road.

Because that was where, until his death yesterday, 87-year-old Josef Stawinoga had made his home – and been tolerated by all the various authorities that might have used their powers to move him on – since at least the 1970s.

Stawinoga – who was known as Fred to virtually everyone who came across him locally – was a Polish man who came to Britain after the second world war. According to a report in the Guardian in 2003, he was a originally a hospital orderly in Wales. A brief marriage to an Austrian woman failed and he found work at a steelworks in Wolverhampton.

The Guardian quoted Juliusz Leonowicz, 73, a retired electrician said to be Stawinoga’s only close friend, as saying: ‘One day he simply didn’t turn up to work. We saw him in the city centre shortly afterwards, pushing his belongings around in a pram. He had always been a friendly, happy man, with a few mates. But when his income stopped, those mates dropped away.’

Stawinoga had developed a phobia of confined spaces and the ring road was one of the few places where he felt safe. Even so, most local authorities’ response to him setting up home there would have been eviction and most likely forced removal into institutional care. Instead, Wolverhampton city council provided him with a proper tent to replace his original plastic sheeting and basic services such as water and sanitation to ensure his needs were met.

In 2003, the council even called in the Territorial Army to provide him with what, by then, was his ninth replacement tent. A spokeswoman said: ‘Although this is not an ideal situation it has been accepted as the best option for him, taking into account his personal history and the fact that he can be visited daily by the council’s meals on wheels service.’

Since his death, the council has said that it will make and pay for the necessary funeral arrangements if no relatives come forward. For all of this, it deserves our plaudits.

There is a Facebook group dedicated to Josef Stawinoga

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

November 1st, 2007

There is a tramp on land next to Hampstead Heath who got squatters rights on land that must be worth a million. All he wanted was to be left in peace.

Anonymous said...

November 2nd, 2007 at 2:06 am

this is a sad day for all of us the day THE RING ROAD TRAMP DIED i once gave you a drink with a burger and chips you never said a word but you didnt have to i could see in your eyes how thanfull you where . i grew up in the midlands and as a boy used to see you sweeping your patch .
and over the years i grew up got a job and a car and i drove past your place every week and always took a glance over just to see if you was ok
and maybe around so i could see you . youve had your up and downs but always been in the heart of the people i hope they errect a statute of you in the place you once lived i still go past there now and i guess i wil always look as if has become habbit or maybe ill just remember you now god bless you josef RING ROAD TRAMP ( FRED) long gone but never fortten sweep those pearly gates clean mate R.I.P. FRED TAKECARE .

Anonymous said...

November 3rd, 2007 at 7:17 pm

[RIP JOSEF “FRED” STAWINOGA]

When my friends at school said “Josef the tramp has died” everyone knew who you were. You are another Legend that has come and gone. You will be sadly missed and passing that ringroad will never be the same.
RIP KING OF THE RINGROAD, hope life is better for you on the other side…xx