Harry Wilson was very keen on sport. He played everything in our Rotary Club and was in every team. He was an excellent darts player. He had been a warden during the war and had lots of practice. Bob Chester was another sporty one. Bob was to become President later. We used to go all over London playing darts. We were still in the London District. We always came up against Elstree in the finals. Anyway we won the trophy. We were in the finals 7 times and won 4 or 5 times. We had the same team: Charles Olley, myself, Bob Chester and Harry. In fact, we ran two teams in those days. We were very keen on sports when we were younger, but our keenness gradually petered out. London District was very large. We took part in everything and Harry, too, because he lived to his 90’s, until the Hornchurch Club changed from District 13 to 113 and then changed to 1240. We lost a lot of friends through that move and I don’t think either Harry or I took part in that side of the Rotary again.
The President Who Could Not Think of Anything to Say!
The President who followed Harry was Lawry Siggs. He was a cartoonist and appeared in Punch every week. I had known Lawry a long time because he had been a client and was also a close friend of Dr. Patterson. He really was a one off and had a wonderful sense of humour. Never smiled, but kept a straight face. His cartoons were excellent. His daughter still has them and has a display of his cartoons in Upminster Library every year. He made a whole book of them and copies are sold in Swan Library. He used to worry if his cartoons didn’t work. A lot of his cartoons were just pictures, and his wife sometimes put the words underneath. They were not nearly as good as the picture. She was very nice in the Inner Wheel. She lived to be over 90, but Lawry did not live that long.
He was also noted for his President’s night. It was one of the best talks we had, as he had us in fits of laughter, but not a smile from his face. There was one occasion at a Punch dinner when he was speaking and had a blackout. That occasion was always pointed out to him as the time when he couldn’t think of anything to say! Lawry made a very good President. We had a run of very good people at that time. Harry Wilson was a character, as well as Bob Chester, who came after Lawry. The fellowship was great in those days.
The golf was now an annual event for some of them. I did not play at that time, but Stan Gunary, Harry Wilson and Dr. Patterson used to go to St. Andrews every year. Jean and I used to stay at Angus and go to the final
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