Where are they now?

John joins us from New Zealand

This month we are delighted to be able to say hello to John Mayhew, who is one of our regular readers in New Zealand and who hails originally from Neyland, where he was heavily involved in snooker, was on the committee of the town’s football club, and was well known for his sports quizzes.
Not content with that little lot, John was also a founder member of Freystrop Short Mat Bowls Club, was a Pembrokeshire champion – and capped it all by winning the Welsh Triples Finals at Builth Wells in 1995 with two of his pals, but more of that later.

Cambridge resident

John moved out to the ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’ some five years ago with wife Betty and lives in what he describes as his ‘granddad flat’ with daughter Debbie and her husband David, plus granddaughter Alice, in the town of Cambridge. It is a 25-minute drive from Hamilton and situated in the central part of the North Island, where it is a temperate climate. As John told us,
“Life is so different here. We never see snow or ice in this part of New Zealand. We may have frost on times but then by 10.00am the sun has burned it off and many people are enjoying their cups of coffee sitting outdoors in one of the twelve cafés places in town, all serving various blends of coffee. Most of the town’s people are also looking forward to the World Rowing Championships here next year; the lake is only a ten minute drive from our house and Debbie has many of the rowers in for a trim in her barber’s shop. One of the few downsides is that there are no proper pubs like you have and no proper beer either, plenty of fast food outlets, just like America!”

British football fanatic and New Zealand sportsman

He has continued his interest in sport, especially his beloved football because,
“I certainly do watch cricket, football and rugby locally, as well as many other sports on TV. I often get up at three in the morning to watch live Premier League from the U.K. and often watch as many as four matches in one day, as here they show two or three live games during the week and many more recorded ones.
“Tell all the rugby fans, especially those from Neyland, I will buy them a coffee when they come over for the World Cup. They are guaranteed a warm welcome here in Cambridge!”
John plays lawn bowls most weeks, as over in New Zealand one can play outdoor bowls almost every day of the year since most clubs have two or even three greens, with one of them being Astroturf for winter play. Rowing, cycling and netball are another three big sports over there but John has decided to give them a miss!
He plays lawn bowls at the Leamington Bowls Club and has achieved a good deal of success in the doubles, triples and fours teams, playing as a lead bowler and using the experience he gained at short mat bowling in this country. They were double and triple champions in 2007 and 2008, fours champions in 2008, plus several others club event winners. He is already looking forward to this year to add a few more and John has also travelled to various other clubs where his team has been winners.

Snooker start

Coming back to his sporting involvement in Pembrokeshire, John was a useful snooker player at the Athletic Club, Neyland for quite a few years in the 60's, the Legionnaire Club in the 70's & 80's, and a few years at the Hook Social Cub in the late 80's and early 90's. He told us,
“I played with Brian Smith, David Coombes, Wally Gunn, Jimmy Martin, etc, and against such great players as Des & Billy Barnett, Al Gordon, Ronnie Narbett, and Gwyn Vaughan, to name but a few. My claim to fame was that I played against the great Ray Reardon (six times World Champion) at the Legionnaire, Neyland, when David Coombes was proprietor. I broke off, then only had two more visits to the table, where I did pot three balls, but it was a thrill to play against the Welsh legend. My memory tells me in those days Reardon commanded the princely fee of £75! My ever highest break was 49 against Vivian Price (Neyland), who on the same night at the Athletic Club knocked in an 87 against me. I believe he could have made it in the game if he had had the right breaks.”

Nomads’ committee man

John was also a committee member with Neyland AFC in the late 70's & early 80's when they had some great players such as Michael Inker, Simon James and Jeff Button.
“I helped alongside my hard- working uncle, Frank Inker, and we would be pitch markers, net erectors, linesmen and fund raisers, as well as cheering the lads along every Saturday. It was great fun and I still look every week on this web-site to see how the Neyland football and rugby teams are getting on.”

Short mat successes

But it was in short mat bowls where John made his biggest impact after setting out at Merlins Bridge Welfare Hall in the early 1990s and meeting up with Martyn Davies and Gerry Laugharne. This intrepid trio then decided to start their own club in Freystrop in the 1993/4 season.
Martin, who is still regarded as one of the top players in Wales and a regular international representative, told us,
“John was a person who quickly picked up the game and it was not long before he gained a place in the county team. In our first season at Freystrop we were runners up to Letterston in the league and in the same season we won the Pauline Thomas Cup. In our second season we won the league and in that that year John, along with Hywel Lavis (Freystrop) and Gordon Williams (Penally) won the red card triples in the county. This success qualified them to play in the Welsh finals at Builth Wells and duly became Welsh Triples Champions, a marvelous achievement after being so new to the game. John was skip of the trio and was highly praised for his play in the competition.  In 1995/96 John was also a part of the rink that won the Pembrokeshire fours competition along with Mike Harries, Gareth & Martyn Davies.
“ In the league he was virtually unbeatable as that trusty left hand of his delivered some amazing woods with precision and finesse alongside his son Paul, with whom he played most of his games, in one of the best doubles in Pembrokeshire at one time. A former fixture secretary, John helped Freystrop become league champions a further three times before his decision to embark on a new life in N.Z. We miss his playing skills but also his part as one of the most genuine and likeable characters in the club.”

Vivid recall

John understandably has vivid recall of that great day in Builth Wells.
“It was so exciting, as each match was played in front of a very knowledgeable crowd. But the thing that I remember most was the reception we received from all of our opposing players, many of whom we knew, due to the county team playing their county team over the season. We felt ten feet tall and the drive back to Pembrokeshire was very rewarding with our trophies in hand.”
For the record, John and Co beat West Glamorgan by 16-6 and Montgomery (17-10) in the early rounds and then disposed of strong challenges from Gwynnedd (11-9) and finally Clwyd (11-7) to take the much-coveted silverware.

And finally…

John might be settled in Cambridge but he will never forget his roots back in Neyland and wishes to be remembered to all those who recall him in our county. He is quick to say that others have done so much more than him in sport but there is no doubt that he was a likeable character who played his part in several sports and for PembrokeshireSport.co.uk it was a pleasure to resume contact with someone whose company we really enjoyed after first meeting him over 30 years ago!

Pics for this article supplied by David Pini (Photographer), Cambridge, New Zealand & John Lewis.