Well, how can I forget Marmaduke (Martin Tudgay) when attending Chippenham College we were outside admiring Marm's 500cc Triumph ~ in those days a real man's bike complete with drip tray. A guy called Richard Blackburn, same year apprentice, thought it would be a good idea to feel the compression of the beast; he kicked it over a few times, then Marm said "here's the key, start it if you want". Rich started it - what a sweet sound - I reckon you could hear it from the town bridge; every body was standing around admiring it, when Marm says "Any body want a go?" Without hesitation, I said "yep" (I only had a provisional licence, but what the heck), can't be faster than a 250cc Montesa can it? I went half way around the block when I noticed there seemed to be a car following me, it overtook and I almost s—t myself, this bloke had a uniform on, yes, you've guessed it, it was a copper on his way home, so called "off duty".
He pulled me over outside the entrance of the College, got out of the car and asked if I had tax, insurance, and MOT. He then asked if I had a licence "Yes, a provisional" I said. "Is it your vehicle sir?" "No" I replied, "it belongs to a friend of mine". By this time I was the centre of attention. Marm came over to see what the all the fuss was. The copper asked if it was his bike, "Yes" he replied, "has it got an MOT or tax?" "Yes, it's in the post" replied Marm. "Did your friend have permission to take the bike?" "No" said Marm "but I didn't worry, he's a good friend" he said. If he had said 'yes' we would have both been in it, so I couldn't blame him for that. I was asked if I wanted to make a statement, I declined.
Marm went off and within the statutory week allowed to produce documents managed to produce a valid MOT and tax ~ how he did this, I don't know. After a few days Mr Plod came knocking on my parents' door with a list of offences:
- No full licence.
- No insurance.
- Theft of a motor vehicle.
Oh, by the way, Marm had no horn or lights but this was dropped, I think the law thought they had enough on us.
Theft was a pretty serious charge, so I asked the copper " How did I get the keys? And, in fact, it wasn't me that started the Bike, it was Rich Blackburn". He went away scratching his head!
After this my dad phoned the insurance salesman, a guy by the name of Tony Williams who lived at Pew Hill, and explained what had happened. As no claims for damage were sought, he said that the policy covered me for a provisional or full licence; he even phoned the Police to get them to drop the no insurance charge, of which they declined.
Tony then phoned his Head Office and, after a few phone calls to Chippenham Police Station, the charges were dropped.
After a bit of persuasion, Rich said he would stand up in Court to say that he was the one who started the bike, and so the theft charge was dropped. When it all came to Court, I was found guilty of riding a 500cc motor bike without a full licence; I was also fined £10.00 and an endorsement on the licence. My licence was handed over to the Court but it was never returned (it was the time when DVLA were taking over from the County Hall). I applied for a replacement and, when I got a duplicate, no endorsement was entered! I was a very lucky guy, and from that day I have always been legal.
