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TOM BEWSEY

Tom Bewsey, who has died at the age of 98, was a member of the De Laune
Cycling Club, having joined on the 5th March 1936; he was proposed by Frank
Holland and seconded by Ron Hoare.

When he first joined the club Tom did not appear to be over-enthusiastic
about turning the pedals! His name was mentioned in a long list of new
members that Ken Hill would have liked to have seen out on club runs;
however, his keen sense of humour was noted on the club runs he did attend.
There is no record of him ever having raced, although he was always prepared
to marshall in any of the club’s promotions.

It would not take long for the club membership to realise where Tom’s
talents really lay, and that was in organising the club’s social events as
he proved to be an outstanding MC at the dances. He, with Eddie Bristow’s
quartet, were frequently praised for their ingenuity and enthusiasm, the
highlight appearing to be in 1938; I quote from the DLN of November that
year: “Often in the past we have heard the description ‘the greatest night
we have ever had’ applied to some De Laune function but without a doubt
Thursday 27th October 1938 was the greatest. At somewhere around 11.15
pm 600 people stood in St Mary’s Hall, Clapham and cheered themselves
hoarse in approbation of Bristow and Bewsey when they came forward to
say their piece as producers, at the conclusion of ‘Treasure Hunt’”. During
this period, he wrote a number of articles and some very good poetry –
mainly with a cycling theme – all of which were published in the DLN.

Tom then took over another club position, that of DLN Editor, from Frank
Holland; this came about due to Frank’s move to Hereford with his work.
Tom’s first issue was DLN No 126 in June 1939. As Tom and Frank both
worked for the same company, Tom was also relocated to Hereford where
they co-edited the magazine until Tom volunteered for army service and
reported for duty on the 5th March 1940, leaving Frank to continue with
the editorship throughout the war years.

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