Gordon Ruffley
It’s always sad to report the death of anyone and especially when it is someone you remember for such happy times. My memories of Gordon Ruffley, who recently passed away, are as fresh as they were the first time I met him, such are the fondness of the memories.
Ihad my father’s old Bultaco Sherpa as the first trials motorcycle that I started to get some good results on. Our local club was the Manchester 17 MCC and, having won a few awards, we went to the presentation. After the awards had been presented, Steve Thomas came over. He was an excellent centre rider and one I looked up to. He was with Gordon and introduced him to my father and me. Gordon was starting a trials dealership to be named ‘Town and Country Motorcycles’ in nearby Ashton-Under-Lyne with Jack Mathews; who was well known from the sidecar world, and he would be taking on the Spanish Ossa dealership. They wanted to sponsor a young rider and asked if I would be interested. My ever-cautious father, Ron, said we would think about it.
As a family, we were terrific friends with Mick Andrews and his father, Tom. Would I like to ride an Ossa? You bet I would! The deal was that we would trade in my Bultaco and the money required for the new purchase of the Ossa would be split between my father and the shop. It got even better when Gordon told us that he had negotiated a ‘special’ price for the Ossa with his good friend Cliff Holden, the UK importer.
At 16-years-old, I started work on 1st August 1976 and, out of my £15 a week wage, I would have to pay the money back; all of the £100, at £5 a week. The deal also included free spares and Dunlop tyres. I was over the moon! The new Ossa gave me extra motivation and soon the results started to improve; as they say, the rest is history.
Over the following years, Gordon was so generous to us as a family, as were Cliff Holden and his son, Roger, who became friends as I moved to ride the Italian SWM machines.
I would still see Gordon over the years as our paths in life took us along different roads. When we did meet, we would reminisce about such happy times.
After he retired from the motorcycle trade, he devoted so much time to the Manchester 17 MCC in various roles. At the time of his death, he was the treasurer. I can never thank Gordon Ruffley and his family, or the Holdens, enough for such fantastic times and for giving me such happy memories. RIP, my friend.