Wayne, Martin and the Indestructible Spectrum
- Lee Murray
- Apr 18, 2026
- 4 min read
This has got to be my favourite post title up to now for Retro Delights. It's an intriguing one, I'm sure, and has a certain feel of a Roald Dahl story about it.
So what's this all about then? Well firstly, Wayne and Martin are both my cousins. They lived on the same road as me growing up, literally across the road a few doors down in Sale Moor, Manchester.
With Retro Delights I wanted to include retro gaming memories, so I was writing a list of them and this came up.
Across the road
It brought a smile to my face thinking about it. Both mine and my cousins' families didn't have loads of money growing up. We went out on adventures on a daily basis, roaming the streets doing things we probably shouldn't have, but that's what kids did back in the 80s.
So as I said, money was tight. But I was very fortunate to get hold of my very first computer, a Sinclair Spectrum 128k. This was a result of saving up my paper round Saturday jobs money. It had taken an age to save up.
The Spectrum wasn't my first choice of the computer I wanted. That was an Amiga, like my mate Keith's brother Alan had, but that was a step too far and way too expensive. But I was well happy to get the Spectrum.
I told Martin all about it, the games and how it worked, and said he had to get one so that we could lend each other games and share them. My auntie got Martin a Sinclair Spectrum 48k for their first computer. We borrowed each other's games because the Spectrum 128K would play 48k games as well. They tended to be cheaper, which we were thankful for at the time.
So yes I remember this, but my standout memory around their Spectrum 48k was, as my title suggests, something different. That crossed my mind thinking back to this.
The throw
The Spectrum 48k must have been a pretty sturdy piece of hardware. Very sturdy in fact, because what I haven't mentioned up to now is Martin, like me, was an amateur boxer at the time. And Wayne, who was a couple of years older, was a bit of a unit and liked to scrap himself.
Basically it was kicking off with the pair of them, as brothers did on a regular basis. The thing is Wayne had a temper, and on this occasion I had come round to see them mid-fight.
I'd opened their front door, and Wayne was at the top of the stairs screaming at Martin with the Spectrum in his hands. He defo wasn't happy. Anyway all I then remember is him throwing the Spectrum down the stairs. It came down in slow motion, step by step, the keys from the keyboard coming off the unit with each bounce.
It finally reached the bottom of the stairs. The keys were everywhere. My thoughts were it's game over for the Spectrum, Wayne's had our Martin right over there. Martin quickly followed the Spectrum, he held it together well to be fair, and started picking up the scattered keys.
The brick
So you might see where this is going now. But yeah, amazingly the Spectrum was fine. It was more than fine, it didn't even have a scratch on it. Yes the keys had come off, but they were simple to put back on.
The Spectrum, a.k.a the brick, was as sturdy as they come. Imagine how a PS5 of today would have fared in the same scenario. I'm telling you now, there's no way they build 'em like they used to.
