It is with great sadness that we report the death of club member Paul Mayor age 66 years. Paul was brought up at Lawson Street in High Park and it was his elder brother Ian who first showed an interest in cycling but he was not cut out for the sport, and he took up the more passive hobby of pigeon racing. Their father was a successful fancier who was a big rival of Jim Caldwell, Norman Mosscrop's mechanic.
Paul was soon cycling with Ray Green, another High Parker, to Parbold and Rivington and before long they had graduated to hanging around Norman's workshop after school and then joined the Club. As was usual in those days Paul tried his hand at time trialling and even a few road races but it was soon apparent that he wasn't cut out for speed work and instead he became a regular on the club's Sunday runs that were serious tests of stamina.
It wasn't all hard miles though and the bike was used for trips to Botanic Gardens to hang around with the High Park gang and pursue another kind of bird fancying. It was probably here that Paul met Crossens girl Christine Sherlock who he was to marry. Clearly Chris was impressed as she took to riding a bike herself and even joined the club.
In 1965 Paul was present at Lasarte, Spain when Tom Simpson won the pro road race. That trip started with a two day bash to Southampton and finished with a three week tour of the Iberian Peninsula. After Chris's tragically early death Paul again became a regular on trips to the Worlds and had it not been for his illness he would have been in Copenhagen to see Mark Cavendish take our second rainbow jersey. For many years Paul was a regular on the club's Mallorcan holidays. He cracked in plenty of miles and loved the social, ie drinking, side of the holiday. Paul was not himself a natural story teller but he had the most wonderful sense of humour, something he shared with his late wife. He loved to hear Broo Rimmer's tales of club life, High Park and most of all the building trade which would reduce him to helpless laughter. Some years Paul was joined by his elder daughter Sarah who was herself a very nifty peddler.
Paul was educated at Southport Technical college and first worked for a small firm of architects on Hoghton Street. In those days trainees were paid a salary that would make the minimum wage seem generous and it did not keep him in inner tubes so he moved to the Water Board in a clerical post. He must have impressed as he was soon transferred to technical work and he became a graduate civil engineer. For some years he was Norman Mosscrop's Saturday boy in the workshop.
Paul was Club Chairman, Time Trial Secretary and Press Secretary and he was for very many years a timekeeper. He leaves two daughters and a grandchild.
Words from Ray Green, photos from various, Posted 02/12/2011
