Grave - George Duncan (16^th September 1883 to 15^th January 1964)

While reading an article in The Manchester Evening News my eyes seized on the words “restored grave." Two policemen had been called to some rowdy youths in a country churchyard and stumbled on the grave of a golfer (and later restored it.) The grave lies in a small village close to home so I went to have a look. After the police had moved the kids on they found the forgotten graves was that of a pro who'd won The Open Championship in 1920 and represented Great Britain in the Ryder Cup in 1927, 1929 and 1931. Sport drives me to sleep but I considered this chap worth a visit.

He was no local lad - born in Methlick in Aberdeenshire to a village policeman. Adept with balls he could have been a professional footballer or golfer and chose the latter. He was a bit of whirlwind on the course, a fast player. In the time many golfers take to actually hit the ball you could go for a hot dog but George simply walked to his ball, fell into a stance then whacked it. Practice swings unnecessary.

Little is known about him but he died in Leeds and lies here in a quiet sleepy village. The policemen who stumbled upon the overgrown grave - PC Mike Dawber and PC Roger Holt - asked the church Reverend if they could refurbish it. As there was no surviving family he agreed. George was probably laid to rest here as he was the golf coach for 28 years at Mere Golf and Country Club which is across the water behind the church. Later on his daughter joined him.

The church is in a village so sleepy I wondered where the Sat-Nav lady was taking me. When I parked up I got the feeling I was watched all the time I was walking round the place. A man with a Karcher blaster was making a right racket as he cleaned up some mucky cobbles.

I had a stroll around the cemetery and although the atmosphere was deathly it was buoyed up by the sky carrying joyous birdsong. I got talking to a young man walking round with binoculars and he kept peering into trees. He was a bit of a twitcher geek and I liked him (twitchers are usually 60+). He dressed expensive and spoke well. He worked nearby and visited the cemetery often to spot birds. I guessed he escaped from his nearby office job as chatting with Kevin and Trevor about Yamaha motorbikes, Man City and drunken pub-crawl sessions wasn’t his thing.

George can be seen in this clip on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_0OmQ7q4n8

When the man blasting his cobbles stopped for a moment I took advantage of the quiet and took some footage. Oh well, time to go. George did well - all the way from being a village policeman's son to being a top golfer with 22 professional wins. I did a salute and left.

The policeman who found the grave...