Anywhereblogs was an initiative for the whole of Manchester, one of the first public, citywide services of its kind in the world. Anywhereblogs enabled mobile phone users to discover and create the secret life of the places and events that mattered to them, while out and about around their city, using text messages and WAP on mobile phones to read the secret life of well known places and add their own feelings about somewhere in the city they cared about.

The Anywhereblogs WAP programming from 2005 onwards, and all of the SMS system, was built by Pete Bamford.

Pete built a system that worked first time and never once went wrong, and he also graciously and with good humour saved Anywhereblogs from several very public technical failures that he had no responsibility for.

Anywhereblogs was only a small part of the range of things that Pete was excited about and expert in, from electronics hacking to physical computing to programming to VJing, and he brought a joy and enthusiasm to them that made it seem crazy not to be as interested in everything as he was.

Pete died in October 2008 aged 29 after an operation on a serious condition he had had all his life.

The world is short enough of people with Pete’s combination of good humour, decency and skill, and he’ll be missed by everyone who knew him.

Peter Bamford 1979 - 2008