Heroes

I noticed the other day that on my old "myspace" page there is a question about heroes, I listed mine as Joseph Paxton and Fran Cotton. I also commented that you won't often see those two names together - I think there might be a brownie point for anyone who already knows who they both are.

Joseph Paxton was one of the great gardeners, his most famous accomplishment being the design of the Crystal Palace and the laying out of it's grounds, just up the road from where I live.

For those of you who don't know this particular part of South East London, the Crystal Palace is now both a major park and the sight of the National Sports Centre. There used to be a motor racing circuit there as well, but they built the stands for the running track over part of the circuit. Every time I went swimming we used to walk past this bust of Paxton. I'm not sure when this went up, but there is a lot of statuary around the park, including the famous Dinosaurs, it has to be said that this is not one of the best pieces on display.

Fran Cotton is a different proposition altogether I have lifted this article from Scrum.com "as an England and British and Irish Lions prop he was ahead of his time in levels of fitness and conditioning, he soon became a legend in the white of England and the red of the Lions. Cotton's international debut came against Scotland in March 1971 and while he was too late to arrive on the international scene to warrant inclusion on the Lions' 1971 tour of New Zealand, he made his mark three years later in South Africa.

Cotton played in all four Tests of the Lions' famous win in South Africa, forming a powerful scrimmaging unit alongside Bobby Windsor and Ian McLauchlan. Cotton, at over six feet tall, was seen by some as too tall for the front-row but he was complemented perfectly by the compact and powerful McLauchlan.

Cotton's versatility was another key string to his bow, with his four caps in 1974 coming on the tighthead side and three against New Zealand in 1977 on the loosehead. In 1977 Cotton was also the subject of one of the sport's most famous pictures, his mud smeared face being captured as a reminder of the terrible weather conditions against the Junior All Blacks.

Cotton's association with the Lions looked to have ended in 1980 when he left the tour early due to a bout of viral pericarditis, originally mis-diagnosed as a heart-attack, but in 1997 he served as the tourist's team manager as they won the series in South Africa.

Following his retirement from playing Cotton set up rugby leisure company Cotton Traders alongside fellow England international Steve Smith."

What this doesn't tell you is that both of these men started from relatively humble backgrounds and rose to the very top of both society and their chosen fields through their own hard work determination and talent. I have a copy of Fran Cotton's autobiography, but like so many sportsman's books it just tells of his playing career, and more or less finishes when he stooped playing. Given that he now heads a major multinational company, has managed a successful Lions' tour and is a leading RFU luminary I await a second volume! - are you reading this Fran?

There is of course a name missing - John Fletcher, if you don't know John Fletcher then you may be reading the wrong blog I will write more on Fletcher and heroes in general, now I need to sleep.