The village of Llangwm lost a real gentleman and lovely man last week with the sad passing at the age of 70 of Jeffrey Saies, who was very proud of his roots and the fact that he was heavily involved in its sporting community until ill health caught up with him and he had to stop scoring for Llangwm Cricket Club and watching the rugby team he played for in his younger days and was an excellent first aid man as well.
 
In fact, when Jeff was first-aider with The Wasps he was immensely proud that playing were four of his nephews in Simon and Darren Brick, Lee and Richard Davies.
 
As Simon told us,
“We used to tease him that if we went down injured and saw him running towards us we would jump up quickly because we thought he was lethal with a cold sponge! But he just used to laugh and we knew no-one could have looked after ‘his boys’ any better than him!”
 
Jeff was also proud of the fact that he also served Llangwm as a player by skippering the seconds for a while and as a supporter there was no-one more loyal – and he was even mentioned in an epic poem written to celebrate a rare and famous win over Haverfordwest in the Bishop Cup which still hangs on the clubhouse wall!
 

Highly respected across the cricketing fraternity

 
But he was perhaps better known across the county’s cricketing fraternity because after playing as a young man he took up scoring and immediately found a new niche because he really was good in the role, initially because of his love of the game but also because it kept him closely in touch with the club but also the talented players coming through.
 
And they held him in respect too because stalwarts like Dai Davies, Peter Rees, Barry Jones, Colin Phillips, Martin Charles and the rest  enjoyed his company, as did the newer breed who broke through like Willie Morris, Simon Kiff and especially Martin Inward – and it was fitting when he was elected as a life member of the club.
 
As Dai Davies told us,
“Jeff was a great club member because he would help with any jobs that needed to be done and was an integral part of the first team that played every Saturday in the summer – and when he became ill he made sure the family tradition continued because he taught his sister, Janice Brick, to score and she is still doing a wonderful job for us. Quite simply, he was a good old Llangwm boy!”
 
It wasn’t long before he was scoring for the county and again players from across Pembrokeshire appreciated his enthusiasm and encouragement – and he was ever-ready to help others who were taking up scoring by giving them good tips and lots of encouragement.
 

Darts another sporting love – as I found to my cost!

 
He was an avid Manchester United supporter and darts was the other sport he enjoyed playing for a long time – and he organised a number of charity events where he invited a couple of sportsmen who were not regular players to head the bill – as I found to my cost in one such event where I had that role against Peter ‘Turkey’ Jones, the Merlins Bridge AFC stalwart, and the real darters had wait as we were level at 1-apiece and neither could hit double one!
 
Jeff never let me forget that I lost my only darts game, but his leg-pulling was always done with the gentle way that was very much part of his make-up.
 
And so my thoughts go at this sad time to his devoted wife Sara, who lovingly cared for him throughout his illnesses, his loving sister Janice Brick and her husband Frank, his step-children Gareth and Louise Green, plus nephews Chris Brick and Craig Davies alongside the quartet already mentioned, and all his many friends, like myself, who will miss his cheerful smile and kind words.
 
Jeff’s funeral takes place next Friday (16^th December) at Galilee Chapel in Llangwm (1pm), followed by interment at Mount Zion Cemetery in Hook.