Alistair Watson

Members will be sad to hear that Alistair Watson passed away recently.

When newly-retired, Alistair Watson was a time trialler who surfed different clubs, not least Hinckley and the Rocko, before deciding to commit to Welland Valley CC where he was quick for age. After some cardiac murmurs made him stop time trialling, he stayed involved by pushing off and marshalling.

He was typically pragmatic about the increasing hearing loss that made it difficult for him to join the post-race hubbub. Instead, he tracked the results of club TTs, sending some of us congratulations – and on occasion robust urgings-on.  Alistair’s Whatsapp messages to testers he wanted to robustly encourage always ended with a skull & crossbones, and a bike.  If, after a race, you got a message from Alistair, you knew you had had a good ride.

His upright bearing, clipped speech, and love of the ship-shape spoke of early years in the navy, but he was a fascinating mix. A controversialist who loved to provoke; he loved bizarre cartoons by coldwarsteve; he took and read La Monde, relishing the alternative perspective it brought to world affairs, and had a keen interest in international conflicts.

A confident countryman, he also ran a productive allotment for many years and enjoyed the opportunity to help out on a friend’s farm.

Not least, Alistair was proud father of Annie and grandpa to her children, to whom everyone at WVCC sends condolences.

Alistair’s funeral is at 3pm next Thursday (25^th July), at Countesthorpe Crematorium, followed afterwards at The Waterbridge, Brookside, Whetstone LE8 6LB.

If you are planning to go to The Waterbridge please let Jen Clegg know as the family would like an idea of numbers.