We kicked off the 2025/6 season with a corker of a meeting. Our speaker was Mr Stephen Chalke, the prolific and prize-winning author, oral historian and publisher, who last visited us in 2011 during our days in Hull, at the old Humberside Police Sports and Social Club. Although based in Bath, Stephen has worked on and with many YCCC players over the years, including Bob Appleyard, Geoff Cope, George Hirst and Ken Taylor, and in his latest book, One Hell of a Life (the 2024 Wisden Book of the Year), he turns his attention to the great Brian Close. After a welcome by Simon Foster and a brief intro from Maggie, we were off - and rapidly too. Stephen is a fount of information and stories – many of them humorous, but some more sombre in character. This is largely because his subject Brian Close is such an interesting and multi-faceted personality, including darker aspects that were not ignored. Stephen was first drawn to Brian in 1963, at the age of just 15...
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