About UsA brief history

Barry Sturdy First started as a hobby in 2000 whilst I was learning HTML on a HP Pavilion PC. It consisted of a menu side bar with links to pages containing various parts of Dave Datta and Jeff Tolva's list which can still be found here

.There was no artwork at this stage as it was hosted by my ISP at the time (Freeserve) which only had 25meg of free web space included. There it remained, untouched for a couple of years until Lewis said he fancied doing a website to display his extensive Numan collection.

In 2004 Lewis and myself began scanning and photographing our collections. Lewis trawled the internet searching for worldwide releases and much of our early content came from Discogs

. We also posted requests on the three main Gary Numan forums, AFENet, NumanMe and The Touring Principle

. We had contributions coming in from all over the world and the site was getting more hits every month.

Many thanks to Richard at NumanMe for the screen print of our front page as I've not found my back-up disc from this period.

In 2009 we redesigned the menu to give easier access to all the main sections and invited people to design our logos. The site became so large that we finally had to give in and start paying for webspace. Our site is now hosted by Hosting24.

In 2011 we embarked on our biggest redesign to date. Everything was about to change. We wanted to give the site a more professional look, larger and more user friendly and plans to expand. Barry's job was to redesign all the pages and started work on the Beggars Banquet pages, Lewis just sat there and twiddled his thumbs, as he had little or no knowledge of HTML. In April 2013 we got recognition from Gary Numan Offical on Twitter and Facebook. Also in 2013, so he could help, Lewis had the idea of HTML template pages. We set them up and Lewis began to start recoding using them and adapting each page to make them slightly different, as he went on he added cross reference links to connected releases, we also added tour dates to the site and Barry, with Nigel Lunn's permission, adapted the Dead Heaven Site for the bootleg recording section, We also got credited in Paul Goodwin's 2nd edition of Electric Pioneer and got exclusive right to his research for the Tubeway army gigs 1977-78. Too protect our work we embarked on watermarking all pictures on the site and we also added our first video of a mispressing being played. The redesigned site was finished on 08.04.2014.

In 2024, Barry decided it was time for him to move on. We talked about the possibility of me taking over Nureference as the sole owner. At first, I wanted to — but not without Barry. This was ours. From its beginnings on AFENET.com, Nureference has been one of the best and most respected sites in the Numan community for years.

We’ve been used by Gary Numan many times, by Gemma recently, and by several members of Camp Numan over the decades. We’ve appeared in multiple publications and been name‑checked in all of them, with one more still to come. We were the first site to publish interviews with past band members — including Chris Payne, whose interview led to him reconnecting with Russell Bell after years of lost contact. We were also the first to warn fans about the Red Vinyl bootleg Photograph album.

As the site grew, free hosting simply couldn’t cope. We had no choice but to pay for additional space. For twenty‑five years, Nureference remained completely ad‑free and never took a penny in contributions. Everything was self‑funded between the two of us. All we ever asked from people were pictures and scans of their collections, and we credited every contributor without fail.

When Barry stepped away, it didn’t feel right to continue alone. Out of loyalty and a friendship spanning more than thirty years, I told everyone I was calling it a day. I said the site would stay online until the hosting expired in September 2024, and then it would quietly disappear.

My friends — and Nureference users — had other ideas. People offered money to keep the site alive. I was genuinely humbled. They talked me out of making a decision I knew I’d regret.

The last update Barry made was adding the PayPal Donate button at my request, giving me a way to help cover the site’s running costs. Every donation goes directly into keeping Nureference online and fully updated. As more of Gary Numan’s content — such as Making Music and Ghost Nation — has moved to paid platforms, staying current requires personal financial outlay. The donations simply help support the cost of maintaining the site.

In 2025, I announced that I wanted to completely rebuild the website. The old HTML site had served its time. I asked locally for help — nothing came back. In 2026, I asked again, and James Lawson stepped forward. He showed me how the site could look using AI. I was gobsmacked.

The last update to the backup site was completed on 19th July 2026. I began working on the new Lovable AI design on 7th July, with a new laptop and James teaching me how to create. It will be a slow, methodical process, but I’ll improve every time I work on it.

Keeping Nureference up to date has always taken a huge amount of personal time. I’m hoping the new site will be far quicker to maintain, depending on how well I adapt to the new tools.

I want to thank every one of you for your support, contributions, advice, and knowledge throughout the twenty‑six years Nureference has been online. With these new skills, I hope to keep it going for as long as you want it.

We couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for making it a pleasure.

End of one era — the beginning of another. Nureference – Reimagined.