Triumph Owners Motorcycle Club Wirral Branch

He was subsequently transferred to Arrowe Park but unfortunately didn’t recover and passed away, with his family at the bedside, on Remembrance Sunday.

Chunky, as he was known, was our longest serving Wirral branch member. I remember chatting to him on my first visit to the club 40 years ago at the Mersey Arms, so it was somehow fitting that we had another conversation on what turned out to be his last visit to our branch night at the Wheatsheaf on 8th November. He was asking about a new rear mudguard for his T120, a bike he bought new in 1970 and which had been off the road ever since he bought a Hinkley Trophy 25 years ago.

We often pulled his leg over the time it was taking him to restore the Bonnie to its former glory, but I have come to realise that there probably weren’t enough hours in the day with all the voluntary work he did. Apart from his charity work with the masons, he volunteered as a blood biker, a ROSPA/IAM instructor and a Bikesafe observer as well as being a race marshal at Oulton Park for many years.

He was part of the furniture at Wirral branch, turning up towards closing time for a quick pint of cider and inevitably a few packets of crisps. In his younger day, he was a regular at the Dragon rally. Lockdowns and a knee replacement operation earlier this year had kept him out of action for a while and it was only recently he had been back on the scene. His loyalty stands out, in retrospect, to our club and to the Triumph marque – in 40 years I have never seen him on anything other than a Triumph.

We have lost a true character who will be very much missed.