Return to East London &
Essex Home Page with this Link
East London
& Essex Section Notes
(as appearing in Jampot magazine from 2024)
Any
section member having information for our section notes or an article for
inclusion on this web site can email me (Colin Atkinson) on btsc.moto@btinternet.com
September 2025
The section run on 18th June was to
try out one of the suggested routes for the Alternative Saturday run so
although we started from Crown Corner we first rode to Battlesbridge as the
route “try out” needed to start from there. We had fine weather for the day and
Myself, Roy, Dave Walling, Keith Smith and Dave Watts left from Crown Corner
and met up with Lin Brown and Graham Eaton at Battlesbridge. Dave Watts had to
attend another appointment so left from here while the rest of us followed the
run route “try out” before having lunch and then making our individual ways
back home.
However, at the club night on 24th
July it was decided to try an improved route for the Saturday run so we
therefore had an extra section run on 30th July to try this new
route out. Again Roy, Geoff Gibbins, Dave Walling, Ian Savage, Les Youngman and
myself started from Crown Corner and met with Steve Carvosso and Graham Eaton
at Battlesbridge for the start. After the run it was agreed that the
improvements had eliminated some of the more awkward junctions so the new route
was finalized.
Graham Eaton’s long running frustrations with
the Norton engine of his G15 continued when after rebuilding the engine it
dropped a valve seat during its first run out after the rebuild, fortunately
without causing more major damage. So the cylinder head had to come off yet
again to sort that. Hopefully his
problems with it are now finally at an end. At the mid-week lunch meet on 6th
August he arrived on it and he said that he had a successful 80 mile problem
free test run although the ignition might be slightly over advanced at the
moment as it tended to kick back quite a bit when starting.
August
2025
The section run on 18th
June was to try out one of the suggested routes for the Alternative runs so
although we started from Crown Corner we first rode to Battlesbridge as the
route “try out” needed to start from there. We had fine weather for the day and
Myself, Roy, Dave Walling, Keith Smith and Dave Watts left from Crown Corner
and met up with Lin Brown and Graham Eaton at Battlesbridge. Dave Watts had to
attend another appointment so left from here while the rest of us followed the
run route “try out” before having lunch and then making our individual ways
back home.
On our club night on 26th
June we were pleased to see again prospective member Mike, who came to our
previous meeting, and is rebuilding his 350 Matchless. He is now going to join
the Club and hopefully become a regular attendee at our section activities in
the future. We were a bit down on numbers this time as we were missing Pat and
Mary as Pat had a meeting to attend and also Geoff G was absent as he was
suffering pain after an altercation with a bees nest while working in a garden
with a hedge trimmer.
At the club night on 10th
July it that the following week’s section run would be another test run, this
time for the Saturday run at the Alternative and to make this easier the run
would not start from Crown Corner but from a site more appropriate to the run
itself.
July 2025
The section run on
Wednesday 21st May saw Roy, Dave Walling, Graham Eaton, Harlow Reg
Green and myself leave Crown Corner, led by Roy for a destination near Maldon
at the Beach House café which is on the Mill Beach holiday resort caravan site
off the Goldhanger Road. The café has a good view over the water towards
Northey Island and Heybridge Basin, although the tide was out this time while
we were there. After the necessary refreshments Roy led us back through a
different scenic route with Graham and Reg peeling off at suitable points along
the way for them to make it back to their homes. Although the forecast
threatened rain, apart from a brief sprinkle of drops as we arrived at the café
we never actually encountered any actual rain until we got back to Kelvedon
Hatch, and even then it wasn’t much. So although it stayed quite dull we had a
good dry run on a fairly warm day.
There was only Pam,
myself and Alan and Jackie Jennings at the 4th June mid-week lunch
meet as most of our section were off to the International on the Isle of Skye.
Graham Eaton and Claire rode all the way to the rally on his KTM, making their
own arrangements along the way, as did Harlow Reg Green. On the Wednesday Roy, Geoff
G, Steve C, Dave W, Dudley W and Lin B drove up to overnight at a Glasgow hotel
in Roy and Dudley’s vans and Lin’s camper van, with the vans carrying their
bikes and the following day rode from there to the rally on their bikes after
meeting up with Dave Ayres from Oxford. It seems that their run to the rally
went fairly well although Steve unfortunately had a rear wheel puncture which
they fixed with a new tube by the roadside and Dave W had distributor problems,
which he also managed to get sorted.
June 2025
Sunday 27th
April was the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs “Drive It Day” and
Roy led myself, Geoff Gibbins and Steve Carvosso on a pleasant run in fine
weather to the Owl café at Terling, where we sat and enjoyed lunch outside in
the sunshine while watching as a constant stream of classic cars passed by on
the adjacent road, presumably taking part in a scheduled route for the event.
There were very few modern cars interspersed with them so it was a bit like
being in a time warp for a while. Steve had to leave early as he had an
appointment to keep but the remaining three of us had another enjoyable run
back by a different route.
At the mid-week
lunch meet on 7th May at Stapleford club house Pam and I were joined
by Roy and Steve C on their Matchless twins and Dudley, having his first trip
out on his ex Dave Slater’s “Ruby” single which he said started well after its
winter lay-up. We were later also joined by Ian Savage, who after saying that
he was designated for traffic duty at the British Owners Club Blackmore classic
bike event on the following Sunday then invited section members to join the
next British Owners Club run out as Ian is a member of both our section and the
British Owners Club.
May 2025
Our first section
run of the year didn’t exactly go to plan as we were late leaving because Dave
Walling had trouble starting his bike and we were waiting for him to arrive
from home. Dave eventually phoned to say that he had broken down at the Esso
garage on the A12, so instead of the intended run route Roy led Geoff Gibbins
and myself on a tour of Harold Hill to meet up with Dave at the garage. Reg
(Harlow) Green had to abandon the idea of taking part as he needed to be home
before we would have got back. After eventually finding that Dave’s contact
breakers were binding and sorting the problem out it was then too late to do
the original route so instead we had a shortish run around to end up at the
Norton Heath café for a pleasant lunch sitting out in the sunshine and the
original route will be left for another day.
Our second mid-week
lunch meet, this time at North Weald airfield, went better than the first one
with five of us attending this time. Roy mentioned that he, Geoff Gibbins, Dave
Walling and Steve Carvosso had a good run to the Classic Motorcycle event at
Ardingly on the previous Sunday and that his bike which hadn’t been running as
well as it should have done on the previous section run seemed to be running a
lot better now with the increasing mileage and should now be ok for the
International. There was also a general chat about possibilities for the runs
at the Battlesbridge Alternative rally in October.
April 2025
Our first mid-week lunchtime meet at Stapleford airfield clubhouse on
Wednesday 5th March was not a great success with Pam and
I sitting there in splendid isolation as other members had other things to do.
Perhaps March was too early to start these daytime events after all. By the
time you read this we will have had our first section run on Wednesday 19th
March when hopefully we will have had a better turnout. Although no doubt the
weather on the day will be a major factor at this time of the year.
Now that it has been confirmed that our section is
going to be running this year’s Alternative Rally, which will be at
Battlesbridge, organisation is going ahead with Roy and Dave Walling in
negotiations with the site owners and the caterers. Also Roy is in the course
of finalising the design of the rally badges and the advert which will be
appearing in the Jampot magazine in due course.
March 2025
Not a great deal
going on within the section at this time of the year except for our regular
club nights at The Woodman. At our club night of 23rd January we
were pleased to see Jan and Kerry Harknett and Reg (Harlow) Green who arrived
with them, giving us a fairly full house for the evening. During the evening
there was quite a long discussion regarding section events for this year and
Roy mentioned that as our section has been running for 43 years this year he
was considering as to whether we might have a new section embroidered badge
made along the lines of the one commissioned by John Puttock some years back to
celebrate our 25th anniversary.
In previous years we usually started having
our mid-week lunch meetings and our section Wednesday ride-outs in April but we
thought that we would try starting them from March this year to see if there is
enough support when hopefully the weather will have improved somewhat. Our
first mid-week lunch meet is scheduled for Wednesday 5th March at
Stapleford airfield club house cafe and the first run is scheduled for
Wednesday 19th March with a destination to yet be announced but
probably starting from our usual location of Crown Corner.
February 2025
At our club night on
12th December we were pleased to see visitors Richard Stanley and
his partner who came all the way from Radlett, braving the horrors of a big
holdup on the M25. Richard is resurrecting an AMC single that he has owned for
60 years and there was much discussion about the primary chaincase inner that
he had brought to ask about, although I am not sure that he was any the wiser
about it by the end of the evening except that it was definitely for a single
rather than a twin. There was also a lot of discussion amongst those present
about the differences between the various single cylinder oil pump plungers
produced by AMC over the years.
Our last section run
of 2024 was held on Monday 30th December and we couldn’t have wished
for better weather on the day as it was dry, sunny and not too cold. Roy, Ian
Savage, Steve Carvosso and his brother Geoff, Reg (Harlow) Green and myself met
at Crown Corner for our ride to Rosey Lea’s cafe at The Squadron on North Weald
Airfield and Pat Gill rode from home to meet us there on his replica WW1
machine gun carriage sidecar outfit. We were also joined by his wife Mary who
arrived in her car and Lin Brown who also drove there, collecting my wife Pam
on the way. So 10 of us sat down to a pleasant lunch and chat. A most enjoyable
end to the section’s 2024 activities.
Our first club night of 2025 at The Woodman was on 9th
January when12 of us got together. Roy produced the calendar for the known
section events during 2025 and whereas in past years we have started the mid
week runs and meets in April we would, weather permitting, this year start them
in March as nearly four months was a long time between the last one of 2024 and
the first of 2025 otherwise.
January 2025
The section run on
Wednesday 20th November was not very well supported with only Roy,
Geoff Gibbins and myself on the ride to the tea hut at High Beach. As the
weather was very cold and the back roads still frosty and bearing in mind the
previous day’s heavy rain it was decided to stay on the main roads rather our
usual back roads routes. There was still plenty of standing water on the main
roads though but fortunately any ice had mostly melted due to gritting by the
time we passed. Admittedly it was a cold ride but even so it was good to get out
on a bike for a run
On Saturday 23rd
November Roy, Lin Brown and Dave Walling and his wife Lin went down to the
Sammy Miller museum, staying nearby for the drawing of the club raffle on the
following day which was being held at the museum rather than as originally
intended at the NEC show. Sammy Miller and his people at the museum looked
after them well and had also managed to sell a considerable amount of raffle
tickets for the club since the time it was decided to have the drawing event
there. Sammy and his wife drew the winning tickets and he also gave them a tour
of his workshops as well as firing up the AJS Porcupine racer.
On Saturday 7th
December twenty five of us sat down to our end of season dinner at The Plough,
Bulphan where despite the very wet and windy weather caused by storm Darragh
everyone managed to get there this year and we enjoyed a very pleasant meal and
the opportunity to catch up with those who we may not have seen for some time.
After the meal and raffle the presentation of the Clubman of the Year award was
made and this year it was presented to Mary Gill for all the work that she puts
in on our behalf looking after us at Jampot rallies. The Piston Broke
award was awarded in his absence to Steve Carvosso for his various problems
with his bikes during the year and would be presented to him at the following
club night.
December 2024
Not a great deal to
report this month. Graham Eaton had checked out The Hare public house at
Roxwell to see if it might be suitable as an alternative venue for our club
nights and the section run on 16th October was intended to be a
sighting run to see the location for those who do not know the area.
Unfortunately the sighting section run had only Lin Brown and myself taking part
on the day as others all seemed to have other commitments. So in the end Lin
and I did not bother with The Hare but carried on the Hive café at Moulsham
Museum in Chelmsford. However we still went ahead with the mid-week lunch meet
at The Hare on Wednesday 6th November and seven of us turned up for
the meeting there. Although the meals were fine it was thought that the layout
of the place would not really make it very suitable for our club nights. At the
club night on the 24th October we were pleased to see this time both
of the Reg Greens, Will Powell and Ian Savage as well as the usual club night
regulars. However with more than usual attending and with various topics being
discussed around the room at the same time the sound level was quite high which
although acceptable within our own area would be unlikely to be appreciated by
either the landlord or their other diners in an open area such as at The Hare.
Our end of season
dinner at The Plough, Bulphan is on Saturday 7th December and those
attending should arrive at 6pm for 6.30pm meal.
As these notes will
be my last ones before the end of the year I would like to take the opportunity
to wish all our section members a very happy Christmas and best wishes for the
coming year with plenty of ideal weather for riding our bikes.
November 2024
The section run on Wednesday 18th September
saw 10 of us leaving Crown Corner for an amble, led by Dave Walling, around the
borders of Essex and what is now part of Greater London
around Orsett and West Horndon, then on to
East Tilbury and Linford to end at the Bombers café at
East Horndon. Six of us stopped at the café for refreshments while Keith
and Dave decided to carry on elsewhere for their lunch. Unfortunately Steve’s
brother Geoff had problems with his ex WD Velocette MAF and Steve
went back to find him. But while Geoff managed to get going again and set off
for home, Steve, when getting back to where Geoff broke down and finding him
gone then had a rear tyre puncture and had to make his way back home
on the flat tyre, so neither of them made it to the café. Roy,
Geoff Gibbins and myself later dropped in at Steve’s place
on the way back to see how he was getting on with his tyre. Fortunately
the weather kept fine for our run this time.
By the time these notes are being read we
hopefully will have had a run on the 16th October to have a look at
a possible alternative meeting place for our club night meetings. Graham Eaton
had previously visited the place and pronounced it as suitable if the majority are happy with it.
There will be the usual run to the North Weald
Remembrance Day Service at the memorial on 10th November and as
before we will meet at Stapleford Airfield cafe for breakfast at 10.30am and
going on to North Weald for the service from there.
Dave Walling would like to remind those who
are going to the end of season dinner to get their menu choices to him as soon
as possible and that he will start collecting the money as from the next club
night.
October 2024
Quite a few section
members attended the British Owners Club open day which was held at our usual
meeting venue of The Woodman on Sunday 18th August and there was
fortunately good weather for the event. We had hoped that we would at last have
decent enough evening weather for our club night on the following Thursday so
that we could sit outside again for only the second time this summer but it was
not to be and with a strong cold wind blowing we had to settle for a full house
inside once more. This time we were pleased to see Will Powell and Reg (Ongar) Green as well as
all the usual regulars for the evening. During the evening there was a
suggestion that we try and see if there were other possible options for our
club night venue and this would be discussed further at the subsequent club
night when members have had time to think about it.
Eight of us met up
for the September mid-week lunchtime meet at North Weald on 4th
September and we were pleased to see Roy back on a bike again, his first ride
out since his knee operation. He said that although his knee was still giving
him some problems, as far as riding the bike was concerned it was like he had
never been off it which was good news. Those intending to ride to the “alternative”rally were discussing their options as the date
approaches. Also there was some conversation about next year’s “Jampot” rally at Corbridge in Northumberland
and there would be a general discussion about it at the next club night.
Dave Walling has
been taking confirmations for the end of year dinner at The Plough, Bulphan on 7th
December. The cost will be £30 per head and he would like to hear as soon as
possible from anyone wishing to attend who hasn’t already contacted him. He
will be sending out the menus in due course to those who have confirmed for their
choice of meal.
September 2024
Those section
members who attended the Jampot Rally at Aylesford had fine sunny and
dry weather for the event, even if it was a little too hot at times. Steve Carvosso, Lin Brown, Graham
Eaton and Dave Walling were riding down together while Roy, Alan Jennings with
Dudley Woods, Reg and Janice Green, Pat and Mary Gill and Les
Youngman made their own way there as did Pam and myself. We were also
joined at the site by our associate members Dave Ayres from Oxford and Tony Henderson
from Maidstone. Unfortunately Dave Walling had trouble on
the way and had to return home to fix his bike but fortunately was still able
to get to the site in time for Mary to heat up some food for him after the rest
of those who were eating in the Gill’s gazebo had just finished and were
partaking of the wine and port. We were also joined on Saturday by Jan and
Kerry Harknett who were going to be judging for the pre-war
award on Sunday.
On Saturday’s run
Steve was unlucky enough to break down and needed to be recovered by Roy. It
was a really strange fault where the tufnol heel of the magneto
contact breaker points seemed to have swollen or shrunk, possibly due to the
heat, and seized solid onto its spindle. It was really difficult to remove but
there was no obvious reason for it seizing. A bit of judicious reaming with a
small screwdriver by Roy and some lubrication sorted the problem fortunately as
Steve had to leave early on the Sunday to get home for work. Les also had to
leave on Sunday but was able to stay for the run first but missed being able to
collect the award for his 1926 Matchless L5 on which he had successfully
completed the Saturday run.
Pam and I were
working in the reception tent as usual (my memory for names doesn’t improve
with the years though) and it was a nice surprise to receive an award for our
efforts at the Awards presentation. A lot of thanks this year (and last
actually) must also go to Christine Morris of the Sussex Section who did most
of the preparation work which made things a lot easier.
Dave Walling has now
confirmed the date for our end of year dinner at The Plough, Bulphan as Saturday 7th
December. The cost will be £30 per head and he would like to hear from anyone
wishing to attend.
August 2024
Not a great deal to report this time as unfortunately the intended mid-week section run to be held on 19th
June had to be cancelled, hopefully the one scheduled for Wednesday 17th
July was able to take place as planned by the time you read this. On our last
club night of June on 27th, for the first time this year it was warm
enough to sit outside at The Woodman and hopefully there will be more of our
evening meetings this year when it will be like this. We were pleased to see
Roy, who has only just had his knee operation, still managed to attend on
crutches. He will unfortunately miss the West Kent event while his knee is
still recovering but is determined to make it to the Jampot, although in a non riding capacity this time. We
were also pleased to hear from Dave Walling that he is now ok following his
emergency hospital visit in early June. The July 3rd mid-week lunch
meet at North Weald saw six of us get together for a chat about Burman CP gearboxes and starting
magneto equipped 500cc singles amongst other things. Some of this conversation
was related to my efforts to finding the sectrets of managing to start reliably the 1948 AJS
Model 19S which I have now taken over from Alan Jennings. I do not seem to have
yet acquired the necessary “knack” to reliably starting a big magneto fired
single with my not so strong right knee, but I am persevering and hopefully not
been too optimistic by overestimating my own capabilities in this area as once
I can get it started I enjoy riding it.
July 2024
At the 23rd
May club night we heard from those who rode to Luxembourg for the International
rally and what a wet time they had. They did have some rain on the outward trip
but that was nothing compared with what came later. When they reached the rally
site it was to find out it was feared that some flooding was expected and
subsequently the organizers and rallygoers could only look on
with dismay as the site filled up with water until it was more like the river
itself and fish were seen swimming around the area. There was nothing that
could be done except to cancel the event. The journey was not entirely wasted
for our party though as after discussing whether they might return home
earlier, because their accommodation was already booked they would keep to
their original schedule and spent the time enjoying the gastronomic delights of
the various places that they had arranged to stay at during the journey and
arrived back home as planned. Unfortunately during the final stages of the run
home they suffered very heavy rain and by the time they arrived back they were
extremely wet, cold and tired. Fortunately none of the bikes gave any real
problems during the trip and we are glad that they all got back safely.
The rescheduled run
on 29th May saw only three of us, Roy, Keith, and myself take a leisurely
run from Crown Corner to the High Beach tea hut via North Weald, Fiddlers
Hamlet and Theydon Bois but despite doubtful weather forecasts it remained fine
for the time that we were out. Six of us attended the 5th June
mid-week meet at Stapleford airfield where Lin Brown arrived to say that Dave W
had been taken to hospital the previous day after collapsing at home. However
after initial examination kidney stones were suspected to be the cause and this
was later confirmed to be the case so hopefully that problem will soon be
sorted out for him.
June 2024
The first section
run of the year on 17th April saw seven of us, Geoff G, Roy B, Steve
C, Steve’s brother Geoff, Lin B, Bob D and myself leave Crown Corner on a run
to the café at Debden Barns Antiques centre near Newport led by Geoff Gibbins, who took us out
via Bishop’s Stortford and returning via Thaxted and Dunmow. The outward trip
unfortunately met with two long road works queues that had to be threaded
through but the return run had no such problems and although some rain had been
forecast we were lucky enough to miss any along the way. This was the furthest
run so far for Bob’s AJS Model 8 since he put it back on the road but it went
well and gave no trouble at all. In fact there were no problems for anyone and
Roy’s bike started ok each time so hopefully is now alright for the
“International”.
Nine of us attended
the second mid-week lunch meet at Rosey Lea’s on North
Weald airfield on 1st May and fortunately the weather was warm and dry enough for us to
sit outside this time. The route of the run on 4th May to the Kettering Open Day was discussed by
those intending to go, with the most important subject of where to stop for
breakfast taking precedence. Also discussed were the final arrangements by
those intending to ride to the “International” with Roy reporting that his bike
is now an excellent starter following the fitting of a new carburetter.
May 2024
At the first of our 2024 mid-week lunch meets, which was at Stapleford airfield club
house cafe on 3rd April, we had a look at the very nice AJS model 8 of new
section member Bob Davis. Bob is returning to the AJS & Matchless club fold
after a period away and has owned the model 8 for a long time but only fairly
recently put it back into service.
Roy turned up on the twin that he is intending to ride to the
“International” and it was it's
first run out since he rebuilt its crankshaft. He reported that although it
runs ok it is sometimes proving dificult
to start and hasn't yet worked out why. We heard him leave from the cafe but
didn't see how many kicks it took to start that time though.
On the way back from that meeting I noticed that 40mph
repeater signs were being installed between Passingford Bridge and Stanford
Rivers so it looks like a new speed restriction is going in. There is no
obvious reason for doing this as the last real infrastructure change in that
area was when the M25 was built so for those who have used that road for many
years (60 in my case) it will mean a concentrated effort to notice and remember
the point where the limit changes when going to and from club events once it
goes live.
April 2024
At the 22nd
February club night our section mid-week meets and runs which start in April
were discussed and it was decided that the mid-week lunch meets would alternate
between Stapleford and North Weald airfields with those at North Weald ones
starting half an hour earlier so that we might get there before the café’s
usual lunch time busy period. As for the runs, it was suggested that those
regulars taking part should take it in turn to decide a destination and route
in order to share the organising load. The first lunch meet (Stapleford) on 3rd
April will have probably taken place by the time this is read so the next one
will be at North Weald from 11.00am on Wednesday 1st May. However,
these notes should be in time for our first run which, weather permitting, will
be on 17th April starting from Crown Corner at 10.30am. The destination
has yet to be decided.
March 2024
At the club night on 25th January there was
much discussion amongst those riding to the ‘International’ as to the booking
of accommodation for the out and back journeys and also about the accommodation
at this year’s Jampot rally and Roy was able to confirm the Jampot bookings for those
who had already booked their rooms at the priory. During the evening Roy took a
phone call from Peter Berry and we were pleased to hear that he now has had the
metal cage removed from his damaged leg and so far the ulceration which it
caused for so long seems to be healing quicker than he expected. On the 8th
February club night we heard that Roy had visited him and said that although he
cannot use his leg properly yet he can stand on it for short periods. We all
wish him well and hope that this time he really is on the road to recovery
after such a long time. On the same club night Lin Brown gave the good news
that John Hodges is now feeling a lot better and is looking forward to getting back
on his bike again. At this time of the year with so much rain and winds about
we look forward to April when we will be starting our midweek lunch meets and section runs
again.
February 2024
On 20th December section members said farewell at Corbetts Tey
crematorium to Graham Bister,
who passed away on December 4th
and we extend our
condolences to Graham's family at this trying time.
On Wednesday 27th December we held our final section run of 2023 when myself, Roy, Dave Walling and Steve Carvosso rode from Crown Corner to the Rosey Lea's tea rooms at The Squadron, North
Weald airfield where we met up with Geoff Gibbins
who had driven there for the occasion. After last year's problem with getting a
table there we arranged to arrive earlier this time and it worked as for a
while we were their only customers. However it soon started filling up and
proved we had made the right decision to get there earlier this time and have a
table where we could all sit together to chat about bikes for an hour or so.
The following evening we had our last club night of 2023 at The Woodman.
As we expected, numbers were down this time but nine of us sat down to have a
nice meal in pleasant company. Since then it seems like it has rarely stopped
raining for long and the second of my only rides out so far this year was made
through flooded roads in places. Even so we have been very lucky in this area
so far when I see what some throughout the British Isles have had to endure.
Closed and just passable flooded roads might be a nuisance on a journey but a
flooded home is something else entirely and my heart goes out to those
affected. What a terrible way to start the new year it must be for them.
January 2024
It’s unfortunate
to have to start the first notes of the new year with sad news but we have heard from his son
Richard that Graham Bister sadly passed away on 4th December after several weeks in
hospital. Graham had been a long time section member and before his health
deteriorated he took part in most of the local section runs and events either
on his 650 AJS twin or his Velocette Venom, which he actually preferred. We will
remember Graham especially for the fact that he never liked to reveal his age,
although as he liked talking about his National Service days with the RAF it
sort of gave it away. His late wife Joan once said jokingly that, “He thinks he
is Peter Pan”. In his healthy days he was usually laughing and also had a
repertoire of the most appalling jokes which he loved to repeat at the
slightest opportunity especially once he realised he had a reputation to
uphold. We extend our condolences to Graham’s family at this sad time.
Section members
helped man the club stand on both weekends at the NEC motorcycle show recently,
with Dave and Lin Walling holding the fort on the first weekend and Dudley
Woods, Alan Jennings, Lin Brown and Roy doing so on the final weekend.
On Saturday
December 9th we had our section End of Season Dinner at the Plough
Motel at Bulphan where around 22 of us enjoyed a pleasant meal and company. Dudley Woods
was awarded the Clubman of The Year award for providing back-up services for
most of the club events during the year and Dave Walling was presented with the
Piston Broke award for his problems on the run to the International in Slovenia.
There was some feeling that Dave was rather unlucky to get this award mainly
because he was at the dinner to receive it as his bike troubles (mainly clutch)
might actually have not been as many as those of someone who wasn’t ….Eh Steve!
Colin Atkinson