❝IwantedtorideSmithy’s2 50 BSA
andhewantedmetorideittoo,but
BrianMartindidn’tlikethe idea.Itwas
really light, with allthattitanium, and
it wouldhavereally suited me.What
amouth-wateringprospectthatwould
havebeen! ❞
L
et’s justsay alot:firstly ,they were
all Cheshirelads, who started
scrambling in the1950s; secondly,
theyall had successfulcareersonDots,
manufactured locally in Ellesmere Street,
Manchester,which, thirdly,caughtthe eye
of Derr yPreston Cobb,(Greeves’s ‘talent
scout’), leadingto factory rides with the
Essexmanufacturer.Oh, and theywereall big
admirers ofDaveBickers.
Imet and talkedto them allbetween
October 2011and March2012 andhereare
someof theirreminiscences.
JohnDone,who diedinDecember
2011,saw Bickers race forthefirst time at a
Bredburyand Romile yscramble (Stockport) in
the earlySixties.“Iwas soimpressedwithhim
and thebikeflying aroundlike they wereon
rails.Hehad astyle th at Iadored andwasmy
first herofromoutside the CheshireCentr e.”
Johnwasalso on thereceiving endofsome
Bick ers b anteraround thattime.“He used to
makefunofmyCommervan as the trackof
the frontwheelswasnarrowerthan theback
and you’dget cross-threaded intherutswhen
driving downatrack!”
Thethree Cheshireacesswappednotes on
the inherentqualities of both theDots and
the Greeves.Done recalled:“TheDot was
‘planted’, it steeredvery well.When yougot on
it you’dthink ,‘Whatever Ihit,it’ll st ay put’and
nine times outof 10 it did.Coming offaDot
onto aGreeves theywerelightyears ahead.”
Initially Griffiths wasn’t sold on theGreeves
though:“IhatedseeingAlan(Clough) goto
Greeves,‘causeIknew hewouldn’t get on
with theMDS and Iwas right. It wasprobably
the worst season of hiscareer.”
Clough noted:“Bickersspoiltthe MDS,for
me.Ilikedto standup everywhere and with
thosebig handlebars Icouldn’t do that.”
On common
ground
What didAlanClough,JohnGriffithsandJohnDone
allhaveincommon?
IanBerryisanEastAnglianformertrialsriderwhociteshisbestresultasBest
NoviceintheBeggarsRoosttrialin 1976 .Hehasapassionforscramblingand
MX.Anotedauthoronscramblingwithacoupleofbooksandloadsofarticles
underhisbelt,IanteachesEnglishinPortugal.
WHOISIAN BERRY?
However, as Done observed:“Cloughie
cameintohis ownwhen theybrought out the
Challenger.” He certainly did, winningmany
nationaleventsand presentinghimselfasa
rivaltot eam-mate Bickersfor the 250crown,
atitle hewould eventuallywin on Husqvarna
in 1967.
“I diddoprettywell on the Challenger,but
whatalotofpeople didn’tknowwas thatI
wasreally keento join BSA.Iwantedtoride
Smithy’s250 BSAand he wanted meto ride
it too, but BrianMartin didn’t like theidea. It
wasreally light, with all thattitanium, andit
would have re ally suitedme.”Whatamouth-
watering prospectthatwouldhavebeen!
Returningto the Greevesdays,Clough
andGriffiths have manyhappy memories of
their trips downto the Essexcoasttovisit
the factory.
Clough:“Greevesweretheoppositeof
Dots; they madeyoutakeyour bikeback
whereitwas thoroughlyoverha uled.Iusedto
driv edowntothe factory,which wasalong
waytogo, but Iwas onexpensessoIwasn’t
toobothered!”“Twenty- sixquid aday!That
wasmorethanmydad wasgettingaweek!”
addsJohn Griffiths.“On topofthatIused
to staywithmyaunty,who livedabouttwo
miles from the factory.Ihad my ownkey and
could come andgoasIwished,soI’d go down
mostweeks.”
One particularvisit to Thundersley stands
out in John Griffiths’memory.“Bickersand I
weredownat thefactory and Cobby(Derry
PrestonCobb,who wasdisabledanddrove
ahighly powere dinvalid car)cameuptothe
workshop just aswe wereheading offinto
Southendto getsomethingtoeat. When
we cameback allthe ladswereasking,‘Have
youseen Cobby? Hehasn’t arrivedhomeyet.
We’vephonedthe police.’
"We’dbeengoneacoupleofhours andit
wasdarkbythen andthey’d beenlooking
ever ywherefor him.Whenweeventually
found himwegatheredthathe’dbeen
roaringroundand gone straightonand
buried himself inahedgeand nobodyknew
he wasthere.Hemusthavebeen therefor
threehours beforewefoundhim!”
Like their one-time employee, thethree
experiencedtheir ownups anddowns.
CloughwasaBritis hchampion, butwas
plaguedby knee problems andeventually
found the travellingtoomuch.Griffiths also
suffered withknee problemsand quit the
rough stuffforthe tarmac,wherehewas
good enoughtofinishasrunner-up in the
Manx GP,and Done,who passed awayin 2011,
retired fromracingin1970, but returned to
the sportint he la te 1970sracing successfully
in theAMCA.
Which brings meto thefinal factorthat
all th reehad incommon; theyall ha dmany
happymemories of the sportthey wereso
proudto be apartof.
IANBERRY
AUTUMN 2019 | 61
