The Elephant Man
My dad. Ron Strong used to ride pre65 in the eighty’s, he now suffers with dementia, when I see him he always asks
how Andy Hunt and Joe Owen are, anyway they would tell you he could be a bit loud at times.
So one day I was off to a foundry in Sheffield to order some castings, I had never been there before and I asked
dad who also used to work in the foundry industry if he wanted to come. When we got there it was quite a big
foundry and we were shown into an office and told to wait for the sales manager.
When he came into the office, it was a bit of shock, the poor chap had a massive growth on the side of his head
a bit like the elephant man.
My dad at the top of his voice shouted,” OH MY GOD,OH MY GOD”. I have never been so embarrassed in my life.
I’m sure I turned as white as a ghost and blood seemed to drain from my legs, I remember cursing him under my
breath “For beep sake dad shut up”. After what seemed like a very long pause dad then said, “Fancy seeing you here”.
Turned out they had worked together years before at a foundry in Brierley Hill… They exchanged old stories while I tried to recover from near death embarrassment.
Not sure if I ever took the old bugger with me again.
Hope every ones ok
Mark
Hi Mark,
Brilliant! We’ve all had moments like that, only I don’t think any of mine were that funny!
Cheers – Luke
Interesting to read your story Mark, I know the clue is in the name but in all the years I have known you, I never linked you and Ron. I remember him riding in 80s when I was involved with Severn Valley then Stourbridge clubs, he had a Morris Oxford or Austin A60 and trailer. One year he invited me and long time best friend Sam to AJS/Matchless annual do at a pub in Pensnett, possibly the Commercial. Good to hear he is still around although has his problems. He may remember Sam who was older than me, he was a Foundary worker at Wellman Alloys, lived in Bromley Lane, Kingswinford and had a Vincent 1000, sadly he died in 2003. Small World.
I’ve got many fond memories of times with Ron. I particularly remember one such occasion when a group of us were on a trail riding weekend in Wales. In the pub on the Saturday evening, Ron put his hand in his pocket at the bar and asked a group of local if he could settle up. Their reply was a confused “settle up for what?”
To which he replied “for the water”
I thought there was going to be a fight, but somehow we managed to laugh if off!
There’s only one Corporal Strong . . .