He felt that Kirk Michael was the perfect place to be brought up; East Baldwin was the perfect place to spend his working life farming; Saddle Mews was the perfect place, alongside the National Sports Centre, to spend his final few years.
A member of Boundary Harriers, for whom he played table tennis for many years, his greatest contribution to sport was to be be there quietly in support. A quiet word from Kenyon was worth two louder shouts from some others. And he backed up his emotional support with financial support given quietly - sometimes to the extent that he would not continue it if it was mentioned publicly.
Richard Coates, Conor Cummins and David Knight were just three people to benefit and each one of them gave something back by visiting him and showing genuine gratitude. It wasn't just the motor cyclists who enjoyed the free use of his land. Boundary Harriers held cross country on his family farmland in the later 70s and early 80s.
I had a special attachment with Kenyon. He was the first person I ever saw when I was brought to Manx soil. He was my mother's younger brother and he used to meet us off the boat from Liverpool when we visited every summer (until my parents brought our family back to the land of my mother's birth). He was generous with his time to us on the farm and he was generous to me after my father died making a significant contribution to my travel costs when I was competing regularly in the UK in the early 80s - and I had to make one of those promises not to tell anyone.
Kenyon is on the right of the back row in the 1958 photo above. My parents are in the middle row and Kenyon/my mother's elder brother John and his wife Kathryn are on the left. Today saw the last of that generation. I'm also on the back row and I was, at the time, the youngest.
Kenyon's own family has extended to great-grandchildren. They had a mighty great grand father.
No comments:
Post a Comment