Hi!
It was pointed out to me that a good fansite has a page about the author ("a….b…ooo..t…the…" as Yvonne would say) and I should write a bit about me, and show you what I look like. Well, here you go :)

My name is Erwin Leerentveld, born in 1977, and I grew up in and currently live in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. I'm a proud dad of a son and I live with him, my girlfriend, our cat and our dog in a suburb not unlike Banksiawood (a lot flatter though, this being Holland).

The Bartons and I
As a kid, I liked Dutch children's television about as much as I like brussel sprouts (as in: I didn't and still don't…!). I much rather watched UK television.

And the BBC was where I first saw The Bartons. That was in 1989, when I was about 12 years old, and I immediately fell in love with the show and still am, 31 years later. To me, there's nothing quite like it. But I'm biased, I know.

The site and how it came to be
I've been wanting to do this for years, but couldn't find the time. I already had some of the content, texts I'd written in lost hours or when I couldn't sleep, trivia I'd collected, some research, photos etc., so when COVID19 made sure I had more time on my hands, I went straight to building this site.

The most exciting part was also a little scary: tracking down cast and crew members and contacting those that I could find. I realised I'd be dropping in on people's lives out of the blue and was a bit anxious that they would not enjoy that. I'm still of in the middle of this phase as I write this, waiting on a response from some major cast and crew members.

But as you can see, it worked out in a couple of cases already and I'm very happy with the way those lovely people responded and helped me out. It makes me feel welcome and it's reassuring to know that I'm not doing this just for myself and other fans out there, but also for the people that brought this wonderful thing into our world. And that was the mission I gave myself, so that confirmation was very welcome.

Paid to play
In my daily life I work in IT, designing software for in house use by my employer. So I get to play around with computers, which is sort of a hobby anyway, and get paid for it. I also have a legal background, through courses (not uni), having worked in the legal departments of a few Dutch firms, but I'm not a lawyer or paralegal.

Shape shifting robots
One thing you might notice when you Google my name, is that I used to be a collector of Transformers. Remember those? Toy robots from the 80s that turn into cars and planes and whathaveyou. I only had a few as a kid and made up for it when I moved out of my parents house and made my own money. I still have my collection, although it's currently packed up in plastic boxes in the attic, and I'm not expanding it any further (but also not selling). Transformers will always play second fiddle to The Bartons though. Case in point: I don't run a Transformers fansite. :)

Well, turns out writing about yourself is easier than I thought… I hope you didn't fall asleep :)

Take care and enjoy the site! Write me if you have any remarks or just want to say hi.