At fourteen I started to play Badminton. I was desperately unlucky. I played at the nearest club. The local Sunday School, and the hall was a foot too narrow for singles and had a relatively low roof. I was too shy to move to a proper club. A failure to haunt me for the rest of my life.

My first team. St. John's Earnshaw Bridge. The hall was my first school, by then moved to new premises, sadly now due to close.

As a youngster I always wanted to play golf. Round about 16 I was being taught photography by the vicar of St. Saviours, Bamber Bridge, when golf must have come up. He lent me his clubs and I joined Leyland Golf Club and played a few times that summer. At 19/20 I started again but this time at Shaw Hill Golf Club. I played there until I got married. I had a few lessons and the pro said I had one of the best swings in the club. Unfortunately I was never to fulfill that early promise. I could hit the ball as well as anyone but I could never put a score together, diabolical short game and nervous putter, in fact all my shots were nervous except on the practice tee.

Running

Winning the 100 yards in Spring 1956 at the school Sports Day. I came from behind in the last 20 yards. It was as if someone had lifted me up and carried me to the front!

220 yards was my best distance and I ran the anchor leg in the school relay team. Also showed promise at the discus and javelin. No good at distances over 220 yards. 440 was cruel, the Mile was purgatory! I hated cross country, four and a half miles in the jungle.

In the early eighties I did a lot of running, one full marathon, The Picadilly Marathon round Manchester on 12 June 1982, Damian's twenty-first birthday, 4 hours 18 minutes. I started another but only managed 24 miles, ran too fast. I ran over a thousand miles in 1982.

Click on these photos for a bigger one

I took part and finished several half marathons over the next few years. These photos were taken at the Appley Bridge Half Marathon.

I joined Chorley Athletic Club and was put in their seniors crosscountry team - ha ha - they were desperate for runners.  This race was at Blackpool several circuits round a course.  You can see me straining in the second photo by the third I'm knackered at the back.  It was very humiliating, the young Chorley runners were screaming at me to do betterr "you're not on Holiday"

I took part in a crosscountry race at Lancaster University but didn't last long

Citizen Half Marathon - Bill Eccles, Me & Steven

My best time for the half marathons was 1 hour 38 minutes

As far back as I could remember I've always daydreamed about sailing and boats. From toy boats as an infant to sailing boats as I grew older.

The first recollection I have of wanting a boat was as a youngster, I don't know what age but I was probably of school age. It was after the second world war, so I must have been seven or eight or possibly older. There was a farm near us, Robinson's at Earnshaw Bridge, they made ice cream using goats milk, best ice cream in the district, especially with post war rationing. For some reason they had a store of temporary aircraft fuel tanks, aluminium or steel , in one of their open fronted sheds. For five shillings, 25 pence, you could have one. The bigger boys had one. They were cigar shaped. You cut a hole in the top, knocked out one of the bulkhead, filled the bottom with sand for ballast and hey presto you had a boat to sail on the river Lostock at the bottom of the fields. My dad wouldn't let me have one! I suppose five shillings was a lot of money then but I think mum and dad were more concerned that I'd drown myself. I probably sulked for ages.

On the river Fal in a Folkboat, Wanton, belonging to Frank's, Susie's cousin, nephew Bob, 1995.

My first attempt at helming is a sail I'll never forget. I was 11 at the time. We were on holiday in Fleetwood, just a week, for several years we had a week's holiday, all five of us, at Mrs Barnes's.  The boarding house was on a street just off the main prom near the pier.

Chris & I on Dotrel

My dad had arranged a sail with Chris, a fisherman who skippered my dad's boss's fishing boat. He had his own boat, a traditional fishing boat, 'Dotrel'. Curious name but it turned out to be a sea bird. It was too rough to go out to sea so we sailed up the river Wyre from Knot End. I was given the tiller and told where to aim for, a succesion of landmarks until we reached what I have since come to believe was Wardley's creek. Later in the week we went out to sea but the boat was crowded and I wasn't invited to 'helm'.

I remember when I was 18 with a couple of friends we hired a boat on Fairhaven Lake and managed to sail backwards. I also have vague recollections of boats on Southport Marine Lake and Fleetwood Marine Lake.

Rugby and golf intervened.

I had bought a sailing book, just a small paperback, when I was 18 and I still have it today. On holiday in Llanbedrog I bought another paperback, I was in my early 30s now. 'The Impossible Voyage', Chay Blithe. That started me off again, much to Susie's surprise. "You never mentioned sailing when I met you!"

I read several books on blue water sailors and their voyages round the world. I started to send away for brochures on boat kits in my price range, which was £2000, to be borrowed and paid back out of my pocket money, I didn't have any savings. We looked at a few boats, at Lytham and a few other places but we couldn't aford any of the ones we liked and didn't fancy the cheaper ones. I was introduced to Colin Kay, a draughtsman at work. He had a Cobra 850 and was soon to be setting of across the Atlantic with his wife Gill. They commended a Cobra 700. I sent for the 700 brochures and we had a sail on Colin and Gill's boat up and down the river Douglas from Hesketh Bank boatyard. We liked it and it had a high freeboard, which being non-sailors appealed to us, we didn't want to be close to the water. This was the summer of 1978.

We went to the Southampton Boat Show and saw the first Cobra. Later visited the Cobra factory in Portsmouth and ordered our basic mouldings.

In the March of 1979 the hull and deck of the Cobra arrived, bonded together with the toe rail fitted. Work started in earnest but progress was slower than anticipated.

In the summer Brian and invited us to go on a cruise with them on their Westerly GK24, rigged for racing, from Troon. Sue declined but I went on my first cruise. From Troon we sailed throguh the Crinan Canal and up as far as Tobermoray on mull and back to Troon over a fortnight.

Back to work on the Cobra and by July of 1980 she was ready for launching, no engine, just an old Seagull Silver Century bracketed on the transon. She was launched on 1st August and with Colin and Gill's help we sailed her up to Glasson Dock and into the marina a few days later. We only ventured out once! One of the days of the August Bank Holiday weekend, out on the morning tide and back after dusk in the evening. Next time out was on the early morning of 17 October when w left Glasson Dock to sail back to Hesketh Bank. A very windy sail. Leaving in the dark, channel not lit in those days, we relied on Jon Eames's knowledge of the area and got into the Lune Deeps safely and flew down to Nelson Buoy and anchored to await the tide. Tossing around on he anchor we listened to the Shipping Forecast, Irish Sea - Force 9 Imminent! The Seagull wouldn't drive the boat agains the wind up the Preston Channel so we had to sail up tacking all the way until we got of fthe windmil when it was cal enough to start the outboard. Arrived safely at Hesketh Bank, poor Brian Riding suffering from seasicknes for most of the voyage.

1981, after a two week's holiday in Ibiza, with Terry Wilding, sailed the boat back up to Glasson and joined the sailing club. Sue and I planned to go sailing on our holiday in July, I remeber it was Prince Charles' wedding day, sue was problably the only woman in the land not allowed to watch it. we had afew pleasant days abord but I didn't have the courage to take it out on the sea. We, Jon, Damian and Me made one trip to Piel, thinking about the Isle of Man but there was no wind so we ended up back in Glasson the second day, the Seagull would have needed too much petrol to take us to the Isle of Man. I can't rememer if that was before or after our days in the dock

Craned out in October and she was laid up until spring of 1983.

In the mean time I took up fun running. Many half marathons and a couple of marathons later I decided to fit an inboard engine, which I did over the winter of 1982/1983. By this time I'd also got a place on the King Orry trot on the East Quay moorings. Hopefully a secure mooring. After a fortnight in Cornwall I plannd to have a week on the boat. Isle of man a possible destination. Jon and Jayne, now Rachael, Eames were to make up the rest of the crew. Sue and I victualled the boat, carrying al the provisions across the mud and waited for the tide to lift us off. The noise as the boat picked up and grated along the chain, big twelve inch long, two inch diamer links, and the river bed was horrendous. frightened me to death, I thought he boat was breaking up! Straight into the marina and up for sale! No sailing holiday, to this day, December 2002, I feel bad about Jon and Rachael's sailing holiday. I was worried that we didn't have a proper rubber dinghy either, just a small two man thing.

1984, 1985 and 1986 I sailed with Brian Roberts and Ernie Smith on their Jaguar 25 and Kingfisher 26 respectively.

1988 was the last time Suzi was launched with me as owner. I'd made a GRP tender over the winter and still had my loooring so, more experienced, I launched the boat. I rowed to the boat with the tide and rowed back as the tide went out, a very successful exercise, most people used a small outboard, I couldn't afford one but on the other hand thought it wasn't necessary.

I spent some of 1987 or 199 something? fitting a head lining to the cabins ready to sell the boat again but I was so pleased with what I'd done that I decided to have another go.

October 1988 became Secretary of glasson Sailing Club

Record of sailing experiences

Sadly I sold the Cobra because I didn't have the courage to take it off the club hard.
I actually sailed it more with its new owner!  The new owner fitted roller reefing, windows and lowered the cabin floor.

The new owners sold it to a family of six who sailed it all over the Irish Sea for several years before they bought a Hunter Horizon 30 at the latter end of 2008.

Dabbled with a Tamarisk 24

My finest hour - November 2008

But I went on to greater things

At my lowest ebb: removed from the sailing club November 2013

Meanwhile I have been involved in Health walks

Click on pictures below for a larger image:

The Cobra - Suzi being sailed by the Sharples family

My first sailing dinghy: a Solo, 2933, - Super's Crew.

Whilst still having Suzi and Super's Crew I purchased a GP14, 10321 - Whiteboat

The Solo was a wooden boat so unable to store it and keep it in good shape he sold it later getting a Gull, 1873 - Tubby

In 1998 with Denys Harland I bought a delapidated Tamarisk 25 and embaked on restoration

I sold the Gull because I wasn't using it.

In 2004 I rescued a Mirror, 7892 - from the bonfire eventually restoring it by September 2006 for our grandson Jaja

In November 2007 I bought a Dart 15 to sail with Jaja

In the summer of 2008 I bought a Topper for Jaja but I'm having lots of fun with it!