Roy’s Story
Roy was born in Wingate on Wednesday 23rd September 1942 to parents, Alf and Edith, and he had brother Alan and a sister Mary.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Roy went to work at ICI on Teesside, beginning as a bicycle messenger before taking up an apprenticeship as a fitter. His practical mind was perfectly suited to the role, and he developed into one of the company’s sharpest troubleshooters, travelling around the world finding solutions to engineering problems.
Roy had begun a relationship with Cynthia, whom he had known as a child but met again when they both joined amateur dramatics group, The Peterlee Players. In 1967 the couple were wed and so began Cynthia’s marriage to Roy – and to cricket!
Alongside his work and family life, Roy was a keen sports fan, following Sunderland AFC as a Season Ticket holders whilst also pouring his heart and soul into Peterlee Cricket Club as both a player and administrator.
Indeed, Roy was paramount in the plans which saw Peterlee move to their current home in Helford Road – coincidentally, in the same street in which Roy somehow managed Cynthia to move to, with their children Claire, Vicki and Mark!
Not only did Roy continue playing well into his 50s, but he also acted as groundsman, secretary, chairman, scorer, organiser, umpire and coach for many, many decades – almost single-handedly setting up the club’s junior section.
His commitment to the next generation was exemplified by the fact he was the coach, umpire, scorer and bus driver for the club’s Under-13s, Under-15s and Under-18s for a number of years. He found enormous joy in seeing youngsters playing the game he loved.
Off the pitch he kept just as busy. Most evenings he found a reason to “pop over to the cricket club” whether that was to roll the pitch, fix the scorebox, pick the teams or host a quiz. His passion for the club and the sport was there for all to see.
By now, he had moved into a PR role with ICI, and he used those skills to good effect in Peterlee when he joined Shotton Hall Comprehensive School as the Chair of Governors. He also kept busy by becoming a Magistrate in the local area.
In retirement, he remained a busy man, but he still found time to answer the call of local cricket when he became Chairman of the Durham Coast League and helped bring them together with the Senior League to create the Durham Cricket League in 2012.
His commitment to the town on a number of fronts led to Roy’s biggest honour in 2015 when he and his family were invited to Buckingham Palace where he was presented with an MBE by HRH Prince William. The Prince even knew to ask him about the latest Peterlee Cricket Club averages!
For all his professional and extra-curricular achievements, Roy remained a devoted family man, and he was especially proud of his four grandchildren Thomas, Lily, Joshua and Luke.
Roy sadly passed away on his 82nd birthday in September 2024 after a long and challenging battle with vascular dementia.
However, through this Foundation his unrivalled passion for cricket lives on.
