The story of The 59 Club really started on the 17th day of October in the year of Our
Lord 1919. For it was then that William Frank Shergold first saw the light of day. Forty-three years later this child became known as Father Bill - Ton-Up Vicar and founder of ‘The Nine’
Born in Enfield he attended the local church and, by the time he was confirmed in 1933, his faith had grown to the point where he realised he wanted to spend his life sharing that faith with others. During the following thirty years he trained for the priesthood at St.Chad’s in Durham, and at Mirfield. He was then ordained in St.Paul’s Cathedral on Trinity Sunday, 1942.
Having, during his summer vacation, helped clear-up after The Blitz and then to create a chapel in the porch of the badly bombed parish church of Poplar, he was overjoyed to officially join the team as the lowliest of six curates and to celebrate his first mass in that temporary chapel one cold, dark December morning in 1943.
The Rector of ‘All Saints’, the parish church, at that time was the Revd. Mark Hodson (later to become Bishop of Hereford), and it was he who founded the SPY Club (South Poplar Youth Club) for the teenagers in that area of East London. The club was very popular among the local boys and, along with the other curates, Bill took his turn working with the youngster.
After seven very happy years as an underling, Bill then moved to Hanworth, near London Airport, as vicar of a parish without a church. Here he lived in a large old house, which served as church, hall and vicarage, but during his nine years’ ministry he was involved in the building of a lovely new church for the parish.
His time at Hanworth was not only noted for the new church but it was also here that he first entered the world of motorcycling. Getting around the parish, which in the fifties was a sprawling new housing area, by pushbike, was a bit of a drag for a busy vicar. So a decision was made, mechanical transport was essential. The solution, taking into consideration a clergyman’s stipend, was the obvious and economically prudent choice of a motorcycle.
A member of the youth club, Eric Hall, taught Bill to ride and allowed him to practice, in the late evenings when others were unable to see his escapades, on Eric’s brand new Douglas Dragonfly. But it was on his own first bike, a BSA Bantam, that he applied for and took his first driving test. In spite of all the hours of careful practice he had put in, the woman examiner at Ealing failed him and, to add substance to her decision, informed a disappointed Bill that he was a menace to the public. However in 1952 at a second attempt he passed the test but then promptly ran out of petrol on the way home. People however do live and learn and, along with many other things, he quickly learnt how to push a dead bike from Hanworth to Twickenham for Blay’s, the famous BSA dealer, to put the latest fault to right.
Michael F. Cook – Cowboy’s Fifty Nine Club Story - A History of The First Thirty Years
Poole Dorset: ARCHALLAGAN BOOKS, 2007. – 252 p.
ISBN 978-0-9557978-0-4
Michael F. Cook – Cowboy’s Fifty Nine Club Story – Contents
Introduction
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgement for Illustrations
PART I
- 1 The World B.C. (Before Club)
- 2 The Start Of A Dream
- 3 A New Helper, A Move, and Trouble
- 4 We Leave The Mission
- 5 Homeless But Hopeful
- 6 The Road Planners’Present
PART II
- 7 A Home and A Shattered Dream
- 8 Growing Fast and Growing Big
- 9 A Trusty Transit and A Handpicked Honda
- 10 Politics, Prime Ministers, Problems, and A Party
- 11 Another Dream Starts But Falters
- 12 Hope Follows The Latest Crushed Dream
- 13 Father Bill Departs For Dover
- 14 The Dream Starts To Shape-Up
- 15 Dodgy Dancing and Friction With Films
- 16 Trouble, Money, and Snow Problems
PART III
- 17 I Battle On Alone
- 18 The Jackpot Is Sighted
- 19 Our Dream Destroyed
- 20 Out Of The Darkness
- 21 Into The Promised Land
PART IV
- 22 Reliving The Golden Years - (1974 - 1978)
- 23 Back To Reality - (1978- 1983)
- 24 Coming Of Age But Struggling - (1983 - 1987)
- 25 Looking Up and Fighting For Survival - (1987 - 1992)
Aftermath The Club Today
- Appendix I Council of Management Members
- Appendix II Club Leaders
Index
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