TED Johnson, who died last year at the age of 55, often spoke of the debt he owed to Lowe House Boxing Club for putting him on the straight and narrow.

For, up to that point, Ted had been a self-confessed 'wild kid' - a Teddy Boy and motorbike fanatic.

Now, his widow Thelma forwards a poignant plea for help in piecing together some of her late hubby's sporting youth.

She writes from her Prescot home: "Ted died just before Christmas after being on a kidney machine for seven years." A transplant operation in 1994 sadly failed.

The couple only met when when Ted was 25. So all that Thelma knows of his teenage years are what he related to her, son Eamon and daughter Louise.

Being introduced by a friend to the famous St Helens-based boxing club was to change his life. They were Ted's happiest days, says Thelma. But joy was to prove short-lived.

Ted's father didn't approve of boxing and as Ted always respected his father's wishes he reluctantly hung up his gloves.

Later in life, Ted's big regret was that he was never able to show Thelma and the children any of the collection of photographs and trophies won by Lowe House during his spell with the club.

Thelma knows that some of Ted's old friends from the Fingerpost and Parr area (he was born in Pitt Street) are still around, including Phil Walker. And she's hopeful that they might be able to meet her request.

She writes: "Has anyone got a couple of pictures or anything relating to Ted's time at Lowe House that they would be willing to show to me? I would really appreciate this."

ANYONE able to oblige can contact Thelma at 16 Salisbury Street, Prescot, tel. 015l 426 4553.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.