TRIBUTES have been paid to one of Porthmadog’s popular characters who became well known throughout Wales for his street cleaning work and cricket.

Tomos Wyn Tomos, who passed away last month at the age of 91, was known for spending several years cleaning the streets of Porthmadog for the town council.

Tom, known locally as Tomo Bado, was, however, very notably during the ‘50s and ‘60s in another area, namely cricket.

His friend, Aled Ellis, said he was an enthusiastic member of Cookes and Porthmadog teams and he remembers his unique way of preparing himself to bat.

He said: “He would use one pad only and that on his left leg, no gloves nor would he ask the referee if the bat was straight!

“He took his place in the ‘slips’ when fielding and he was very effective for catching the ball when the opportunity came.

“As the game was coming to an end, and if it was Port fielding, then Tom would move further back from the ‘slips’ until, suddenly, it became clear that Tom was no longer on the pitch!

“He would have left us and gone home to see Flash Gordon on TV!

“He would like batting against bowlers who he knew would he bowling slowly – ‘uncle to me’ was his description of them all!

“He had exceptionally strong arms and wrists and the ball would travel very far after meeting the centre of Tom’s bat.

“His short legs were not made to move quickly and often only half way down the wicket that Tom would have reached before being run out.”

Aled also recalls Tom’s love for the tenors Mario Lanza, Carouso and Gigli and said he would call them the ‘best tenors in the world’.

Speaking of Tom’s love for his street cleaning work, Aled said: “Tom would have finished his work extremely early and that was because he needed to do the cleaning while the street was clear of cars that would prevent him doing his job.

See the full story in this week’s Arfon/Dwyfor edition of the Cambrian News