MISSING . . . . . . AND FOUND
Pedal pals: Boyhood cycling chums in Brighton in 1959
RETIRED civil engineer and passionate cyclist John Mouatt of St Neots, Cambridgeshire, writes: ‘i wonder whether you can help trace three school friends i haven’t seen or heard from for around 62 years.
‘i attach a photo taken in Brighton in 1959 of myself and two of them (the third friend took the photo).
‘On the left is John Milton (nicknamed Milktop), in the middle is Maurice Brain (Brainy) and i’m on the right (known as Lawnmower, as Mouatt sounds a bit like mower).
‘Our pal Victor Wiggins (Wiggo) was behind the old box camera. We were good friends during our time at ingram Secondary Modern technical School in thornton Heath, South London.
‘We were a bit silly doing these long rides on our old-fashioned bikes. A 90-mile round trip is challenging even on modern bikes! Neither did we have appropriate cycling gear, as you can see from the photo.’
John is still a keen cyclist and organiser of a cycling group. Would Milktop, Brainy and Wiggo care to join him?
TWO months ago Trudi Bittan of Gerrards Cross, Bucks, was trying to trace her cousin, born Lesley Anne Danvers in West London in 1945. Their mothers were sisters and as they were both only children, they were close. ‘Aunt Ida often collected us after school in her little blue Austin A30,’ said Trudi, ‘and took us home for tea. She died when we were 11/12 years old and we were heartbroken. Life changed further for Lesley when her father remarried. She and I stayed close for years. I married in 1964 and Lesley married her husband Michael the day after me. They went to Kenya because of his job and had two children, but later divorced. We last met in 1985 and she told me she was getting married again. Soon after that we both moved house and somehow lost touch. I’m now 76, and she’d be 75. I’d love to see Lesley again. I think about her often.’ Ta-da! Irene Collins saw the story here and emailed us: ‘Lesley is a good friend and is alive and well and living in Israel.’ So we passed on Lesley’s number and a delighted Trudi says: ‘Thank you, Daily Mail!’