John Tarry, who died last year, has been formally remembered
in a plaque erected recently above the entrance to the sports hall at Southwell
Leisure Centre. As the inscription reveals, John was devoted to helping badminton
players of all ages and abilities develop their skills.
John was much more than a coach, however. He ran a number of
clubs and development groups over a forty-year period. John seemed to be
present at every home match for all of the various club teams. He would provide
the shuttles, score cards, record book, pen, table and drinks and then attend
to anything else that needed doing.
Badminton was not John’s only interest. He talked
knowledgably about jazz, cycling, local history, family history, the Roll-Royce
engineering club, aeroplanes and trains.
Sitting on the bench at Friday club nights, John and I often
talked about trains. When I was researching the former Nottingham Suburban
Railway, John provided four pages of notes and a hand-drawn map to show me
where I could find visible reminders of the line. Chris and I followed his
itinerary in the car over a couple of subsequent afternoons. He spoke with
affection about the long-gone Nottingham Victoria station and about train
spotting at Grantham in the heyday of steam.
John kept in touch with the current railway scene, partly
through various magazines that I had passed on to him. He bought some OO gauge
models to display at home on a short section of track. He was as pleased as
Punch to tell me about his acquisition of a Class 91 electric locomotive from a
favourite model shop in Pickering.
The plaque is a fitting reminder of John’s contribution to
his chosen sport. I will also remember a man who - like me – was more than
happy to talk about trains.
No comments:
Post a Comment