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It must be 12 months or more when our Chairman, Mel Dobson and I sat next to one another at our Annual Dinner.
It was a good evening, as usual, and the wine flowed pleasantly, bottle by bottle, in the direction of John Hope and Gary Forster.
Alex and Ray were in deep discussion, trying to work out the new LBW Rule, where left-arm seamers were to bowl no-balls whenever asked.
But I mellowed too, and started to reminisce, with Mel gently dozing on my shoulder.
Long grass; no sightscreen; outside shower; push roller; odd sized bails; no umpires; only one team; ….. and this was only 2006!!!
No – not true. I am talking about well over 25 years ago.
“But“, said Mel, “wasn’t that about the time you Walked to Lords or something”?
“Me – walk to Lords? Don’t be so silly. Me??”.
“No, seriously, didn’t the club walk to lords 25 years ago”?
I dug back, deep into the depths of my mind. It didn’t take long.
“Yes, you are right. We did, 25 years ago, 24 of us, along the roads, overnight, in one hit. And we did it in 2 1/2 days. I kept Bruce Jones awake – snoring! Blimey. I had forgotten that”.
“What about doing it again” posed Mel? “Celebrate 25 years ago in the club. It would be a good fund raiser”.
“MMMMmm” I said. “Big job. Dave Wilson headed it then. I think he had just retired and wanted something to do!”
“Well then, it’s right up your street, Reecey. You could do it with your hands behind your back”.
And he gave me one of those evil, but strangely pleasing smiles, and said “You only need head it up. The committee will do the rest”!!!!
And so, we started to think about it ………….
I could kill him!!!
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The idea was good. Let’s Walk to Lords! We can celebrate - having done it 25 years ago.
It sounded pretty good. Even pretty easy. We had raised £3,000.00 then. Why not now?
Get the route off Dave Wilson, and his schedule – we are done.
Well ………………………… it didn’t quite work out like that!!! …………………………………….
Mel asked Reecey to set it up. MMmmmmm!! Was that a good idea?
But he got some good stuff around him –
Gary Forster, the Aristotle of the team, both thinker and doer. If only we had fixed a camera to the bike.
John Hope – Eddie Stobbart re-incarnated, with logistics in his blood and planning every inch of the route.
Alex Sandland – A lawyer, clearly destined for higher things. A “legal beagle”, without whom we could not have gone ahead.
Ray Hunt – ducker and diver, bobber and weaver. Always came up trumps with PR at the end, despite our beneficiary.
And finally …
Melvin Dobson – Chairman extraordinaire. Kept the show going with the enthusiasm known to us all.
Of course there were others.
And then we started to talk …………..
25 years ago, eh?
A few roads, even motorways, had been built since then. Laws had changed. Health and Safety began to loom up.
Traffic had increased. A grave danger in the dark. John Hope had some Government Statistics of accidents relating to walkers on the road.
Things began to look bad.
Did we want to do it in in 3 days as before? When is the best time of year. School holidays, cricket matches, Bank Holidays
.......................... all these seemed to come up as major obstacles. Doubts as to the possibility began to appear.
And then someone, we still don’t know who, came up with the brainwave ….. Why don’t we use the CANALS????
It threw the door right open. Enthusiasm began to eat into the committee. The show was going onto the road – well, canal!
But here the work started. It would be impossible to describe in writing the amount of work required to get the final result together.
Suffice to stay, every obstacle that could be imagined became fact, and it continued day by day.
But gradually, with the experience shown by every member of the team, the problems became situations to be dealt with.
Gary cycled the whole route. Yes the whole route …. So we knew every danger spot en route.
Hopey planned every section, having to make changes – times, positions, walkers – right to the last day.
Alex stunned us all with his ability to sort through horrendous beaurocracy ……… CASC, H&S, British Waterways, Risk Assessment, Compliance, Insurance, Disclaimers,etc, etc., etc.
Ray – despite applying [and getting] a new job, and his good lady starting a business, kept MacMillan and the press happy bunnies.
It gradually took shape. All of a sudden it was upon us, looming up like a great air-balloon in front of us.
Would it be a success? Had we done enough? Will we get the support? Will we raise the cash?
We all know the answer -
60 people turned up for the start, and the walkers set off – 200 miles to go.
There are too many stories to tell about the walk itself. They will stay in everyone’s’ memories.
But what an extraordinary success. At the finish at Lords, 25 walkers made the final stretch. We had covered every inch of the walk.
We greeted them at the gate as best we could. But there could not be enough praise for the three that “did the lot” – Anthony Rouse, Josh Spraggs, and Martin Sharp.
I’m glad it was planned!
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The following 64 members and friends took part in the walk and should be recorded for posterity!
In alphabetical order:
Geoff Beddow, Jon Beddow, Alan Brock, Nev Carr, Joseph Clarke, Liam Cork, Steve Cork, Jason Davidson, Debbie Dobson, George Dobson.
Henry Dobson, Mel Dobson, Ewen Drake, Ed Edgington, Paul Ferriday, Gary Forster, Tim Gray, Graham Harper, Jasmine Harper, Max Harper.
Andrew Herbert, Mark Hooper, John Hope, Angela Howard, Grant Howard, Ralph Howard, Dominic Hudson, Felicity Hudson, Hugh Hudson, Mike Hudson.
Patrick Hudson, Sarah Hudson, Ray Hunt, Aidan Hunt, Tom Hyslop, Gary Jones, Chris McEwen, Jonathan McEwen, Barry Mitchell, Rob Mulvihill.
Finlay Pilkington, Roger Pilkington, Mike Reece, George Richards, Ian Richards, Jane Richards, Mike Roberts, Ant Rouse, Stu Sadler, Dean Sandford.
Gary Sandford, Mark Sandford, Roy Sandford, Alex Sandland, Emma Sandland, Martin Sharp, Josh Spraggs, Liz Stokes, Nick Toosey, Lewis Ward.
Tracey Ward, Callum Wilson, Mike Woollard, Steve Worley.
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24 members arrived at Lords at 1.45pm on October 29th 2011. A special mention must go to Ant Rouse, Martin Sharp and Josh Spraggs who covered every yard of the 226.5 miles. Worthy of mention also is Grant Howard who battled with injury but walked at least one leg on each of the eight days.
64 members took some part in the walk and are listed above including 12 aged 13 or younger.
The Hudson family supplied 6 walkers including the youngest, Hugh, aged 7.
Mike Reece, Nick Toosey and current president, George Richards, will not forgive me for disclosing that they are all over 70 and took part.
Mike Reece, Nick Toosey, George Richards, Graham Harper and Mike Woollard all took part in the original walk in 1986 and are expected to be available for the next one in 2036.
Brian Jarrard also took place in the 1986 walk and was busy in the background on this walk whilst carrying out support vehicle duties. |
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SPIRIT OF TATTENHAL CRICKET CLUB – THE WALK TO LORDS
THE THOUGHTS OF OUR PRESIDENT ... GEORGE RICHARDS
The same team spirit that embraces Tattenhall Cricket Club resonated along the canal towpaths that eventually led to Lords Cricket Ground.
There is nothing like actually playing cricket. The game, however, is served and enjoyed by so many other people - spectators, groundsmen, coaches, sponsors, umpires, scorers, friends, relations, partners and tea ladies.
Like a mirror image the support and enthusiasm the club receives during the cricket season was reflected by the many people who rallied to support the Event.
My congratulations and thanks to all who contributed to make it such an outstanding success.
Here’s to the next one in 25 years!
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