Ripley garden parties
Hi again all nostalgia fans,
Just another snippet or two to add to the party.
I used to play weekend cricket with the Ripley club. The ground sits squarely alongside the Honourable C S Hughesdon's (as he I think he was) impressive house and the other side of the long wall you can see in the Pathe film clip.
In 1965 I recall how I was struggling to make a batting fifty while a string of rotaries passed over our ground on the approach to one of his pleasant little helicopter gatherings, but I was a confirmed fixed winger in those days.
Thanks for the note on Don Donnelly and I see he worked with John Gordon Stables at Heliwork. Sadly both now gone. JGS was, as many will know, a confimed but successful gambler. He was my Chief Engineer at Starline Helicopters in the period 1988 to the mid 1990s when he once told me he wasn't always clad in engineering overalls and I should see him when he was dressed posh in horse racing attire ... grey mack and wide belt of course plus stylish highly polished gambling shoes. As a thank you for his loyal service I promptly offered to be his personal pilot on Gold Cup day at Cheltenham.
A great day even after I placed a losing £50 on every horse he tipped. The weather closed in for the last race so having kissed goodbye to a final £50 on the tote, we made it to the B206, (G-SHZZ) to watch in the gloom. With rain obscuring the windscreen, John said he thought our horse was in the lead on the run in, but there was no waiting if we wanted to beat the weather home. John called me later to say the teletext said our dobbin had won and we shared £1300 !!!
Happy memories.
Dennis Kenyon