Tony was my Dad. We were so similar that, when I lived at home,
it was a case of 'light blue touch paper.....'!!
He was one of the early pioneers of metal detecting in this country
and, at one time, was known as 'The Lord of the Rings' because of
the number of gold rings he found on the local beaches. Many years
ago he took me to Hayling Island. Whilst I fished in the rock
pools, he detected on the beach and found a James I gold unite,
which he left to me.
He qualified for a place in the British Olympic Rifle Team. The
trials took place at Bisley and he shot a perfect card despite
appalling weather conditions. At the end, they decided to cancel
the event and replay on a better day and Tony told them where to
stick it!!! He wasn't prepared to prove himself twice.
I have a cup with his name dated 1954 which he was awarded for
catching the biggest Mullet that year on the river Arun. It weighed
5lb 2oz but he told me that it was the smaller of two that he had
watched for ages in a small pool.
I think that geocaching would have appealed to his love of
treasure hunting, but we were always very competitive with one
another, so who knows what would have happened!
Tony became ill with a chest infection in late 2004 and it
eventually transpired that he had mesothelioma - a cancer caused by
exposure to asbestos. At the age of 14 he was an apprentice at a
boat-builders and used to crawl into the small spaces of Motor
Torpedo Boats to lag the exhausts with asbestos.
His last year was an amazing example of dealing with a terminal
illness with dignity and grace. He spent the last two weeks of his
life in St Barnabus Hospice in Worthing where we all were shown
incredible kindness and compassion. My sister was undergoing
chemotherapy by then but we were all able to spend his last day
with him and he was happy and peaceful.