Steve 'SPINKSY' Spinks - R.I.P.
4th July 1944 to 3rd September 2001
"Forever Missed - Never Forgotten"
A Tribute by Carl Spinks
As many visitors to the Boglin Marsh Web Site will know
by now, the original author of this web site is no longer with us.
Over the last few years, Boglin Marsh has become a great web site
for both for pigeon fanciers and non-fanciers alike. This is due entirely
to the work of its author, Steve 'Spinksy' Spinks. This page is my
tribute to my Dad - Steve 'Spinksy' Spinks. He did not particularly
like any attention, recognition or publicity and used to keep himself
to himself. However, now that 'Spinksy' is no longer with us, it's
about time people knew a bit more about 'Spinksy' - I hope I do him
justice.
Steve was born on either the 4th or 5th July 1944 in
Medicine Hat, Canada whilst his father was serving in the Royal Air
Force over there. I guess he started as he meant to go on....as he
used to say,
"It's not everyone that has two birthdays....".
Officially, it was the 5th, but his mother insisted,
"I had him and I know when I had him, and it was before midnight
- not after!".
The family always celebrated his birthday on the 4th July, (but as
kids we would get him a 2nd gift for the 5th, just in case...).
I think 'Independence Day' suited him better anyway.
His family moved back to England when he was four and
they settled in Bramhall on the outskirts of Manchester near Stockport.
The family decided to move to Blackpool and bought a Guest House in
the South Shore area of Blackpool. Although the "Blackpool landlady"
lifestyle suited Steve's mother, his father eventually moved back
to Manchester. Steve and his older sister helped with the Guest House
and with raising their two younger siblings.
I am told that as a youngster, Steve was a great footballer.
His brother admits that 'Spinksy' may have exaggerated sometimes,
"If he says he scored six, he probably only really got three,
but he could bend the ball from the corner flag, straight into the
net!".
Football was not his greatest sporting love, he had
his sights set on being an Olympic High Board Diver. Apparently, he
was an extremely good diver, until an accident left him with terrible
back pain. Later on in life he was diagnosed as having several 'slipped
discs'. Later on, he also had to give up the football, due to an injury,
which almost cost him his leg.
He then backpacked across Europe to Switzerland via
the "scenic route". Many a time he would recount sleeping
rough on some roadside or in a field under the stars. Looks like he
some fun too!
Spinksy in Switzerland
In Switzerland he trained as a Patisserie Chef. At the
age of approx. 20, after gaining his qualifications as a "Chef
de Patisserie", he returned to Blackpool, where he worked in
many of the Top Hotels at the time including The Savoy Hotel and later
The Norbreck Castle Hotel, at which he eventually became Head Chef.
Some of Spinksy's work at the Savoy Hotel.
The chocolate petitfour basket and the pastry volcano are his.
Spinksy the Chef with another work of art.
It was during this time he met Carol, the story goes
that he was in a Bar in Cleveleys near Blackpool, and his older sister
was giving him a hard time about not being married. He offered that
he would pick a girl in the bar and marry her. When challenged by
his sister to go ahead and pick one, Steve replied,
"OK, that girl over there.......".
The rest as they say is history.
Whilst at the Norbreck Castle Hotel he also renewed
his interest in Aquatic sports and took up as the Junior Swimming
Coach of the "Norbreck Swimming Club". Between Steve and
the Senior Coach, they turned the club into a very successful amateur
swimming club in the Lancashire area. This is how my sister and I
were introduced to the world of Amateur Swimming. At the time the
club had one of the National Team's swimming stars, Cheryl Brasendale.
One evening at training Cheryl had been having a laugh about how good
she was, and Steve being Steve, challenged her to a 1 length race
over the 25m pool. The whole club gathered to watch, as Spinksy in
his mid thirties took on the one of the nation's young stars.
Yes, he beat her - and she took a flyer before the whistle!!!!
In the late Seventies we moved to Lancaster, approximately
30 miles north of Blackpool. Steve gave up the Chef's job to take
on the struggling Lancaster branch of his brother's retail fabric
business. It was the "Thatcher" era in England and after
eight years of battling, the business did not survive along with many
other businesses in the area.
As well as enjoying the odd day out fishing in and around
Lancaster, 'Spinksy' also turned his hand to amateur photography.
Another opportunity to demonstrate his sharp sense of humour and his
abilities as a chef at the same time. Take this finger roll.....
A Spinksy Finger Roll anyone?
Steve, my mum, and sister Tracy returned to Blackpool.
(I stayed on in Lancaster for a further 2 years to complete my education,
returning home to Blackpool at weekends). Steve stepped in to help
his brother's fabric business due to the sudden loss of his brother's
wife. Carol & Tracy also took up in the business. This sadly was
not to last - not due to the economy this time, but a huge fire at
the main branch in Blackpool's Bond Street. Although the business
was rebuilt, Steve, Carol and Tracy were left without jobs.
During this time, I believe, he started to write the
odd article or two for the British Homing World paper and he again
took up his love of pigeons. 'Spinksy' began to write about the place
called Boglin Marsh. His articles began to appear more often and he
became a well respected scribe for the paper. This was something that
would keep him going during the hard times ahead.
He re-established his pigeon lofts at his house in
Bispham, Blackpool - he had not been able to keep his pigeons since
moving to Lancaster. As a boy he had spent many an hour with a Blackpool
Pigeon Fancier called Arthur Gomersall. Arthur introduced him to the
world of pigeon racing and taught him his craft. When Arthur passed
away, Steve was convinced that Arthur was his guardian Angel watching
over him, and after more than a few happenings throughout the years,
maybe he was right.
Steve turned his hand to Insurance sales, as his bad
back was now too telling to be able to return to the hectic world
of the Chef. The Insurance game did not work out, and so ever resourceful
he turned to being a "Cabbie" and joined the ranks of Blackpool's
infamous taxi drivers.
Steve also had a great love of music, especially Chris
De Burgh's work, but was partial to a bit of Rock Music too. Which
was a good job, as in the late Eighties, both my sister & I had
taken up with local Rock bands and were using Spinksy's front room
as our practice pad. Four or Five nights a week the place would be
buzzing to a 1,000 watts of thumping Bass & Drums, and lead guitars
trying to get as high as his pigeons. But as Spinksy's grand children
began to arrive on the scene, the bands fizzled out.
A few years down the road and Spinksy had to relocate
to a smaller house. He transformed the ramshackle back garden in to
Boglin Marsh, complete with his pigeon lofts, fish pond, flowers everywhere
and of course the 'bog' itself. The grandchildren used to visit to
throw a penny in the pot and make a wish.....
As times were hard, Spinksy had to also take on a part
time job as a cleaner at the local school. It did not take him long
to start to educate the staff the Spinksy way. He used to use the
time whilst pushing his brush to compose his next pigeon article,
ponder on the world, and plan his next web page.
As visitors to Boglin Marsh will know that the Autumn
of 1998 saw my dad & I start work on his pigeon web site, as he
wanted to give something back to pigeon world and learn enough that
he could help me with Tangerine Design. He had never touched a proper
PC prior to that. The most modern bit of technology he had was an
old Amstrad that just ran the Blackpool Homing club's accounts &
race results, and his trusty electronic typewriter for his articles.
I don't think either of us realised at that time, just
how big the Boglin Marsh site was to become. But once he started,
and as I taught him more over the 1st couple of months, he soon was
teaching himself and on occasion me, with new things he had picked
up. Boglin Marsh became his passion, his way to pass on his knowledge
to other fanciers. As he put it once,
"I've got my buzz back, and a fire in my belly".
He certainly had, he was never off the phone, relaying his next plan
of attack, or relating the new article he had just published on the
site.
He had just reorganised& rebuilt some the pigeon
lofts to provide a play house for the grandchildren, and Spinksy removed
the bog. He was going to slim down his birds and concentrate on breeding
a new strain of grizzles, "The Boglins"......
An early Boglin Pigeon - "Aimee's Boy"
The night of his passing he had been on the phone to
impart his next idea for Boglin Marsh....maybe one day......
We like to think that he went out on a high, something
he always wanted to do....
I know that from the many letters, cards and emails
that we have received, he will be greatly missed by all of his friends
world-wide.
