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I got to know Dave shortly after he joined us and he became part of the De
Laune darts team in the South London Darts League, of which I was captain.
Dave was so keen that he would sometimes travel down from as far as
Yorkshire after work for a match and return ’up North’ the next morning.

Dave was one of the infamous De Laune card school, at the then clubroom
in St Faiths Hall, along with Alan Rowe, Mick Dongworth, and myself. He was
also a very competent car driver, but bloody fast, and very often scary in
fact. I navigated for him in the night car rallies organised by Dave Burfoot’s
work place, Elliot Automation. Once in his Mini, driving on the Croydon Road
towards Westerham I said to Dave “sharp right coming up”, “ no It’s straight
ahead “ was his reply as his headlights picked out an avenue of trees (many
of you will know this bend and straight on is Chestnut Drive, more or less
where the Park Wood Golf club, where we have had our summer lunches), “Jez,
your right” and as Dave swung to the right, the car lifted and I am sure we
were on two wheels. Fortunately Dave kept control and we levelled out, and
to this day, but for the fact that Joan, decided to come with us on this
occasion and was sitting behind me, we would have rolled and I would not be
writing this now. Dave’s reaction to it was his distinctive chuckle which was
often used when thing didn’t go quite right.

During the mid seventies David and Joan bought a bungalow in Botany Bay
nr Margate, whilst still living in Beecroft Road, Brockley. This necessitated
David, after a busy week at work, driving down at night, at the weekend, to
‘water the garden’ in the summer, and he would spend all-night with with a
hosepipe, giving it a ‘good soak’, the best he could considering the topsoil
was on chalk. He would spend this time listening to the movement of ships
on the radio, (also I think airplanes or was it the other way round?). I know
he even made an earth mound in the garden so he could see the ships moored
out at sea awaiting the tide and then the next morning returned home to
Brockley. At some point Joan moved into the bungalow, whilst David was still
in London, and Lyn and I made frequent visits, as we were now living in Herne
Bay. I often called in on Joan, when out on the bike, for a cup of tea, giving
me an all round 30 mile trip, and this continued until they moved up to
Orpington.

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