Kevin’s Chronicles
A major part of the LCGB framework was its magazine, Jet Set. Throughout most of his tenure as general secretary, Kev would be the editor
Part 9 of our homage to scooter legend Kev Walsh. A major part of the LCGB framework was its magazine, Jet Set. Throughout most of his tenure as general secretary’ Kev would be the editor
When the club had first come out of mothballs they were handed over an old Gestetner copying machine from which to produce each copied page. It was a beast of a thing and no one wanted the job of using it.
Being general secretary of the LCGB was a huge task, even during the years of leaner membership numbers. Not only would that role include the organisation of the daily running of the club, but also sorting out all the problems that it threw up. Sometimes this was on a constant basis. Kev would take it all in his stride though, as the club had become a significant part of his life and routine. It did take its toll on the family, but somehow he managed to juggle it all and keep everyone happy. So it's surprising to know that somehow he found time to be the editor of the club's magazine, Jet Set.
Lifeline
As soon as the club had got going a regular magazine was always going to be part of its structure. Whilst it would include feature articles and interesting stories, its main role was to inform members of exactly what was going on. Without the magazine, there would be no way of keeping a steady communication line open. There was no internet or anything like that, and not even a national magazine, so when it first came out it was free to members and was also on general sale when available. That way potential new members could see what the club was all about, while at the same time raise extra profit that the club so desperately needed. Kev realised this early on so Jet Set soon become a major priority.
The idea was to produce an A4 newsletter with the aim of getting the word out to members. When the club had first come out of mothballs they were handed an old Gestetner copying machine from which to produce each copied page. It was a beast of a thing and no one wanted the job of using it. John Illing would do the typing on it, but the return spring had broken so they suspended two pint glasses on the end to do the job instead. Every time a page was printed the handle had to be cranked to run it through the ink. It only printed one side on the page so it had to be turned round to do the other side. With 300 members this meant a lot of pages and Kev's arm were worn out by the end of
Taking the magazine away from Kev after all the hard work and dedication he had put in would be a devastating blow.
the print run. It was a laborious task that made him realise a proper magazine needed to be produced.
HQ
With all that was going on Kev needed a proper base to work from, a place where he could control all his operations. The answer came in 1982 when he moved house once again. This time it was a bigger and more modern house at 8 Trent Close. It was still in the town of Rainhill where he had spent all his life and as far as he was concerned he always would. It would comfortably house the entire family and give him space for an office... or so he thought. Things don't always work out the way you think and Kev soon realised there was no room for an office. Thinking hard, he decided to open out the space underneath the stairs. Though it would be cramped, it was just big enough to fit a desk from which he could work.
He was quite proud of what he had built and anyone who visited got a brief tour. “I run the LCGB and produce Jet Set from that little space. It's better to use it for that rather than stuff the vacuum cleaner in it,” was his regular speech. So Trent Close had become the club headquarters. Of course, there were other committee members working tirelessly, but this was the epicentre. Once established and settled in, he got to grips with producing a proper club magazine. Jet Set was named after the original club magazine in the 1960s, but from now on would be named New Jet Set. It has remained that way ever since.
All hands to the pump
Kev would initially start writing articles for the magazine on a typewriter and include anything from news to technical features. By producing an A5 size magazine it would help considerably in reducing costs, not only with paper and ink, but also postage costs due to weight. Even so, it was 48 pages in size and would take a lot of material to fill it. There would be the odd guest writer or club member contributing stories, as well as four pages of colour photographs. These would usually be taken by Kev, which is why you would always see him with a camera, regardless of what type of event he was at.
Once the articles were written they would then be laid out on a huge board along with any images and adverts. Luckily there was a print shop locally who would then lay it all out and edit what had already been done. From there it would go off to Liverpool to be printed. This was only half of the exercise, as the printed editions now came back to Kev who would have to send them out. That was easier said than done and certainly so by the time the club had 1000 members. Not only did every copy need putting in an envelope, but an address label had to be put on the front. Each one was then sealed and a stamp put on the front. Sometimes there would be an announcement of a rally that didn't make the print deadline. A small flyer would be printed and that to would then need to be placed in the envelope. When the copies finally were sealed up it was a trip to the local post office to get them all sent off.
Sometimes when he was to busy he would get his children and their friends to stick all the stamps on and seal the envelopes. One time he even got them to cart the sacks down to the post office. “I would give them a fiver for doing it and buy them an ice cream each to keep them happy. They would work live beavers once they knew they were getting a reward at the end.” The magazine would come out quarterly and be just about doable on time. Kev felt it easier to write and layout the material by himself rather than work
with others. The problem was that by the time he had finished one edition the next one needed to start almost immediately.
Errors
Anyone who was a member will always remember Jet Set quite fondly, awaiting for it to arrive in the post. Quite often it would be a little late, but with nothing else out there it didn't matter. Even when Scootering magazine made its debut as a national publication, Jet Set still had space alongside it. Quite often there were typing errors or pages that slightly ran off the edge. There was nothing that could be done to eliminate the problems and readers almost expected the odd error as part of its make-up.
Later on Kev, like everyone else, moved into the computer age. Finally purchasing an Apple Mac, he could produce the magazine not only much faster and efficiently, but virtually free from mistakes. Even in the age of the internet where everyone began to gain access to forums and social media, Jet Set continued played an important role in informing its members about what was going on within the club. He may have been proud of what he had achieved with the club itself, but to Kev the magazine was equally important, and perhaps in a way even more. Taking the magazine away from Kev after all the hard work and dedication he had put in would prove a devastating blow.
Change at the helm
In later years Kev's role of producing each edition of Jet Set was placed in the hands of others. Things had significantly changed for both him and the club, and though the magazine took up a great deal of his time, it was a bitter pill for him to swallow. Rumours soon spread that the magazine had been a waste for all those years, with many supposedly regarding it as some sort of comic. Having spent over 30 years of hard graft turning it into what it had become, this was a direct insult and one Kev didn't take lightly.
Everyone knew it had its mistakes and yes, it could be the butt of the jokes at a rally, certainly if there was a copy to hand. Kev more often than not would laugh at it while sharing a pint.
“What do you expect with the crappy typewriter they gave us. Club funds don't stretch that far,” would be his jokey reply. What the magazine had was a soul, and with unedited contributions from many members, it was one everyone could associate with. Of course, time and technology move on, but perhaps in a way the rawness of what it once got taken away in doing so. Whatever people's opinions are of Jet Set, past or present, one thing is for certain… it was Kev who made it what it is today.