The William Walker Memorial Tour : February 2014

Friday, 28 February 2014

Dudley's Funeral Pt1

As this tour has now been renamed The William Walker Memorial Tour, I make no apologies for including some posts in regards to Bill's funeral.

The date for laying our Hog buddy to rest is 6th March, in his home town of Keswick.

There's never been any question in my mind that I wouldn't attend and I suspect the same goes for Grizzly and Biggsy, plus the family are keen for us to be there. Lewis, Bill's son has asked if we would provide a motorcycle escort from home to the church. Of course we have said yes.

At first glance that would seem no issue but given I'm a bit of a girl (no offence ladies) and don't ride in the cold/wet, Biggsy's bike is hidden away under building materials in his garage and Dudley's Harley has suffered a battery mishap (nice one Dud!), that left just Grizzly to fly the flag, a bleeding foreign one at that! Fear not though, Dudley's Harley is being supplied with a new battery by those awfully nice chaps at Preston Harley Davidson, so Biggsy has a ride and I shall bite the bullet and fire up the Sprint. It's the very least we can do to see the old boy off.

And so, this weekend I shall prep the Sprint for the 350 odd mile trip up to the lakes on Wednesday/Thursday. Battery has been on charge all winter, so she should just need chain and tyres checking and maybe a clean.

William 'Dudley' Walker

It is with a heavy heart that I sit and write this post. I hadn't really planned to post another update to the blog just yet but I learnt last night that Bill, a.k.a. Dudley, has sadly passed away. Active to the last, it seems he suffered a heart attack whilst skiing in Austria, I believe with members of his Keswick Scout Group.

Though I've only known him since the summer of 2010, we have crossed, states, counties and countries together and roomed together along the way, the last time of course, being in the summer of 2013, on our Wild West adventure. In those few years I've barely scratched the surface, just enough to appreciate what a kind, thoughtful and funny gentleman he was, showing an immense love for his family, especially his grandchildren. Wherever we stopped, he was always looking for something to take back home for them and postcards to send them, so they could follow him on his travels. My heart goes out to them and the rest of his family. He was one top bloke and I and the other Hogs shall miss him dearly.

It's very, very hard to believe that this tour, planned with his inclusion from the start, will now see him absent from the line-up. Grizzly and I have discussed it and we both feel that Bill would not want us to change our plans but as a mark of respect for him, the tour will now be known as, The William Walker Memorial Tour, rather than the Hogs of War, so whilst absent in body, he'll be with us in spirit.

Thanks for some magic moments Dud, our thoughts are with you!