The Demon pulls a bird (From The Northern Echo)

The Demon pulls a bird

2:59pm Wednesday 3rd August 2011 in Backtrack By Mike Amos

EITHER way, last Saturday may have been the most memorable yet in the 55-year cricket career of Charlie Walker, the Demon Donkey Dropper of Eryholme.

The seconds, whom temporarily he captains, were at Aldbrough St John in the Darlington and District League C Division.

Aldbrough won the toss, batted.

“Normally I’d put the kids on bowling, but Aldbrough have a really good batsman and I thought it would destroy them,” says Charlie.

Instead the 71-year-old Demon was joined in opening the attack by Jeff Lynn, who may not be a day over 65.

Before you could say “Supplementary pension”, Aldbrough had been skittled for 66, Charlie 5-29 and Jeff 5-33 – a feat spotted amid Monday’s small print by John Raw, who still plays for King James in Bishop Auckland, but may barely be a day over 60.

“A wonderful achievement, a real inspiration to young bucks like me,” he writes.

When Eryholme replied, however, they were soon reduced to 14-6, at which point the captain again decided to lead by example.

“Some of the kids are just 13 or 14. Normally I bat at 11 to give them a chance but I thought I’d best try to steady it a bit,” he says.

Charlie, old guard, joined Richard Brunskill, who was out for 39 when the scores were level. Eryholme clinched it on 67-7, the skipper having contributed precisely three from 25 overs.

“There was plenty of time. I thought it best to go steady,” he supposes.

Victory secured, he headed back to Eryholme – south bank of the Tees, near Darlington – to watch the end of the first team game. That’s when feathers really started to fly.

“We’d heard this bird squawking, I though it must be a macaw but I couldn’t see it,” says first team member Robin King.

“They were all frightened of it,” says Charlie, who farms turkeys (a bird of a different flight altogether.) The macaw, Charlie decided, needed to be taken under his wing. “It was obviously very nervous, setting away something terrible, I couldn’t get near it at first. When finally I caught it, it gave me a bite, a hell of a bite, on the arm.”

Robin King – to whom thanks for the great lengths taken to forward the photographs – saw things a little differently. “Charlie was wrestling it like a young Tarzan and then they became friends. I suppose it’s a change from a duck.”

The macaw pacified, Charlie put it in the front seat of his car – “as good as gold” – and took it home. “It was very thin, obviously been in the wild for a few days” he says. “Since then all it’s done is sit on my arm and eat fruit and nuts.”

The bird remains nameless – “I don’t even know if it’s a lad or a lass, it’s just a parrot to me” – and is now in a temporary home until its owner comes forward.

“It was a good Saturday in the end, we don’t get too many of those at Eryholme,” says the Demon.

In the true spirit of investigative journalism, Backtrack has (of course) tried for the macaw’s side of things. So far it hasn’t said a word.

EVEN the Demon Donkey Dropper, however, must give a couple of years to Arthur Puckrin, that most noncorrosive of athletics Iron Men.

While Charlie was chasing tropical birds, Arthur – semiretired Middlesbrough barrister – was pursuing yet more records in the British 24-hour cycling championships in Chester.

He’s 73, smashed the world over-70s best, covered a quite extraordinary 359 miles.

“I maybe stopped for ten minutes, a jam sandwich and a cup of coffee which seemed to work. It was perishing cold at night, I’ll tell you, I was glad I’d brought my winter gear.”

Cycling’s usually just one of the disciplines in iron man events, coupled with extreme running and swimming. The next really big one is the double-deca – that’s 20 iron man distances, one relentlessly after the other – in Mexico in November.

So how many world records does he hold now?

“I’m not really sure, 20-odd,” says Arthur. “I still hope I have time to set a few more yet.”

UP a bit. Back in May we noted that the magnificent Lol Degnan, for countless years the driving force behind Darlington Boxing Club, was making a comeback by joining Argy Ward’s new gym at The Northern Echo Arena.

“Just a few tips for an hour or so, nothing physical,” he insisted.

On Thursday we bump into him at the station. “It’s going great,” he says, “just putting the pads on for a while, giving them a few tips. You have top, really.”

Lol Degnan is 77.

COURTESY of Tim Grimshaw, Tuesday’s column carried a photograph of a Big Cat – stuffed, sadly – reclining in front of the scorebox at Cowpen Bewley Cricket Club, near Billingham.

Assistant groundsman Alan Dickinson now reports that the tiger has been earning its stripes.

Though Cowpen may not be said to be a jungle, the tiger emerged for the start of last season. “We lost our first three games, but I guess that was just a settling in period,” says Alan.

“After that we never lost another match, won the Beresford Cup and the Jarvis Cup, were promoted to division one of the Cleveland League and in the Middlesbrough Midweek League, too.”

This season, higher grade, the tiger fights on, though not against Loftus on the day the picture was taken. “They mauled us,” says Alan.

THINGS have clearly improved since Martin Birtle joined Cowpen Bewley many years ago. “Their motto was ‘Lose some, draw some’. They were thinking of getting it translated into Latin,” he insists.

He also recalls that, in the 1990s, the team included a German – “all left hand, really nice lad, came from Stockton.”

The player was called Heinz. “How many clubs can boast that?” asks Martin.

Another 56, probably.

TUESDAY’S column also included Mike Tweddle’s appeal for Victorian-style props for the film he’s making about Arthur Wharton, the first black professional footballer.

They’re shooting in and around Darlington on August 14 and 15. “It’s been quite encouraging,” says Mike, but particularly they’d still like an old fashioned pair of size 9s and a passable goalie’s top, black or dark green. Anything else?

“Well, £100,000 would come in handy,” he says. Mike’s at miketwed@hotmail.co.uk BACK on June 28 we told how, 30 years after he left the club under somewhat acrimonious circumstances, team manager and record appearance holder Geoff Wade had been granted a benefit match by Horden CW.

“They also asked if I’d become a vice-president. I asked them how much they wanted,” he’d recalled.

The game’s now arranged for Friday November 25, against an Irish side with strong links to Hartlepool United. They’re coming across for Pools’ match with Yeovil, making a weekend of it.

“It should be a great night,” says Horden secretary John Stubbs.

Geoff and several of his contemporaries are said to be planning cameo appearances, but by the standards of today’s column, he’s but a bairn of 65.

Crook Town Amateur Cup hero dies aged 69

back in the 1964 FA Amateur Cup final – the club’s fourth Wembley win in 11 seasons – has died. He was 69, and had a long-term illness.

He was a South Shields lad, studied PE – like to many more good footballers – at Bede College, Durham, played first for Bishop Auckland before moving up the road to their arch-rivals.

He won two England amateur caps while with Crook but then moved south, joined Enfield – the team whom Crook had beaten at Wembley – and won a further 26, several as captain.

He also made eight appearances in the Great Britain Olympic team.

A PE teacher while with the Northern League club, he and his wife Jean later ran newsagency and post office businesses in the south.

“Ian was a lovely man, one of several outstanding left backs we had down the years,” said former Crook outside left Jimmy McMillan, the only man to win four Amateur Cup winners’ medals.

“It says a lot, mind, that he never really started winning caps until he went down south.”

Ian’s funeral is at Milton Keynes crematorium next Friday.

Football club trio putt in their best efforts to raise cash

A COUPLE of pints on Wednesday evening amid the high plains of Crook Golf Club, where a novel – perhaps unique – fundraising round had just finished.

Steve Moralee, Kevin McCormick and Lee Cullinan – respectively secretary, treasurer and groundsman at Tow Law FC – had played a sponsored 18-hole round using just one club – a putter.

Like all the best ideas, it was born late at night. “I can’t remember who came up with it, either John Smith of Glen Fiddich,” said Kevin.

“A bit of a chew-on, mind,” observed a passing member.

Asked to estimate the number of shots, he put it at 200.

“To be honest, we thought exactly the same,” said Kevin a retired bookie. The reality proved different.

Lee carded 113, including a four at every par three. “I can’t even do that with an eight-iron usually,” he said – Kevin managed 115 and Steve finished on 128. They did it in four hours.

“I never thought you lot would get round in 113 with a full bag,” observed another member, though they had been joined over the last few holes by Crook Town supporter Mark Thompson and his doberman.

“I think that speeded us up a bit,” said Steve, equally quick to point out that he was the only one who’d walked.

“Golf’s usually about technical terms like giving it some welly. This was more about positioning,” said Kevin.

As the pictures may show, however, none of them is likely to have won a best-dressed player award, nor even avoided the booby prize, even on a warm July afternoon.

“We chose Wednesday afternoon because it’s usually quiet. We thought fewer would see us,” said Kevin.

Since none had ever heard of the idea, Lee claims his 113 as a world record for what might now be supposed shotting the putt. Something else to chew on, they also raised around £1,000 for football club funds.

Next bright idea? “Ask me at 11 o’clock,” said Steve.

􀁧 Tow Law FC are holding a clubhouse open day, all welcome, this afternoon. Attractions include a free buffet and pool, darts and domino competitions.

And finally...

THE first English cricketer in the aggregate list of all-time test match run scorers (Backtrack September 26) is Graham Gooch, in at No 11.

Ray Aggersburg in West Cornforth was first off the mark.

Brian Shaw, in Shildon, today seeks the identity of the first English footballer to captain a double winning side in the 20th Century.

At the double or otherwise, the column returns on Tuesday.