REST IN PEACE DAVE MURRAY (THE FLYING SCOTSMAN!)
John Martin remembers....
I have many fond memories of Dave, including playing alongside him for the CAMRA cricket team and working together at numerous beer festivals. I am even prepared to forgive his annual failed attempt at photographing me wearing a tartan scarf at his legendary New Year’s Eve parties.
I particularly remember when we pranked him at the Euro ’96 England v Scotland game. Four of us travelled to Wembley with only three tickets for the match – or so Dave thought. The fourth traveller was Paul (Gramps) Wright, a man as equally passionate about England as Dave was about Scotland. Gramps played the part of a man desperate for a ticket as we drank our way around London. Dave even consoled the “ticketless” Gramps as kick-off time approached – although he did have a sly dig as we left Gramps outside Wembley. So imagine the look on Dave’s face at five to three when Gramps not only appeared inside the stadium, but actually had a ticket for the seat next to Dave!
Alun Thomas adds: I can’t say I knew Dave Murray well – he always came across as an intensely private family man – and I don’t think I featured on his radar until about eight years ago, when I volunteered to deliver copies of BAE to pubs in the East Northamptonshire part of the Branch area. When I took on the editor’s job, though, I came more into contact with him and it was then that I realised the full extent of Dave’s influence on the local real ale scene. Whether at a Branch meeting, or the Beer Festival, or if you sought him out for advice, he was a ubiquitous figure, offering a word of advice here, an encouraging remark there. Also – he never ducked an issue or a challenge. And his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things CAMRA proved invaluable on countless occasions! Dave was not, by nature, a garrulous sort, but he invariably stepped up to the mark at Branch presentation evenings – and when he spoke, people listened. He always found the right words for the occasion – a rare gift – and he was a master of the well-timed, jocular remark. Peterborough CAMRA has lost a figurehead (and Posh a perceptive and passionate supporter!). We shall not see his like again. Our thoughts are with Dave’s family.
Once he was over the shock, Dave took the joke almost as well as he did Scotland’s 2-0 defeat. It is a measure of the man that, in a friendship lasting 30 years, I cannot recall anyone having a bad word to say about Dave. Rest in peace. Jocky
Visit our website for up-to-date news: www.peterborough.camra.org.uk
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022
BEER AROUND ‘ERE
13
