Sunday April 17th 2005

Mill Hill Report

Please click on the thumbnails for a larger photo

Sunday April 17th 2005, this a a big day for all Billy Fury fans his 65th birthday. although a lot was going on up in Liverpool to mark the occasion we decided to pay our respects at Mill Hill and I am so glad we did.

We set off at 10 am to give us three hours to get to Mill Hill, we met up with our good friends Pat and Ted on the M4 and arrived at Paddington Cemetery at exactly one pm, The weather was fabulous brilliant sunshine and very warm, the birds were singing and the atmosphere was peaceful and calm, a crowd of about 25 fans had gathered, and everyone was very happy and chatting to each other,

Billy's grave looked wonderful with lots of cards and flowers, but Moya's terracotta pot looked a bit sad and overgrown with weeds, so I decided to tidy it up and plant some new flowers in it.

I started talking to five gorgeous looking women one I knew to be Maureen Bowden from Anglesey who used to be on the Sound Of Fury Team, another named Dianna from Finchley Rita from Canterbury and Janet and Joan from Kings Lynn, Joan bared a sparkling resemblance to Alma Cogan (see Photo)

The next group I met were our very own Mr Sunnyside Kevin and two of his Friends Ken and Hazel Hills, Ken was very interesting to talk to as he was a cousin of Jet Harris and had met Billy on several occasions.

Who could miss the one and only Daniel what a great bloke he is and always full of surprises, so it was only right that he had a surprise of his own, a miniature bottle of Billy Vodka. With him was another wonderful person who we have met through Billy, Tina (Tonka) Chris Pat Daniel and Tina had taken over the wooden bench and were soaking up the sun.

Then along came Marion Cave and her husband Chris, Marion was a very close friend of Billy's when she was a child in Hospital, Billy used to visit her and they became lifelong friends.

I then had a chat with George Wychely who said he was at the Sunnyside and enjoyed the show, Ken and Cecilia were next on my list again a lovely couple who do a great job with the fan club magazine, Also Peter another close friend of Billy's who I had met a couple of times at Blackpool I hope I have not forgotten anyone and if I have please let me know.

After an hour had quickly passed and we were the last ones left we headed off to the hall which was quite full with a nice selection of memorabilia being sold by Ken and Cecelia, there was a good selection of snacks on the table and tea and coffee from the kitchen, I decided to have a nose around and talk to as many people as possible ( I must take a tape recorder next time) Bob Paskins was there with his acoustic Guitar so I thought we were in for some live music and I was'nt disappointed, After the raffle and Auction that raised about £100 for the stone fund, Bob picked up his guitar and introduced himself as a member of Billy's backing band back in the 1970's this was confirmed by two photo's on sale of him with Billy in 1975 although his hair was a bit longer, I brought a pair of the photo's and he kindly signed them for me, A really nice bloke and a talented guitarist.

Bob then started strumming the intro chords to "That's Love" and something amazing happened, everyone in the room sung along in perfect harmony it sounded wonderful ( and now I really wished I had that Tape recorder) He then sang Once Upon A Dream again accompanied by the "Mill Hill Choir" and then "I Love How You Love Me" Bliss everyone felt part of something very special happening.

The very talented Danny Rivers and his lovely wife Emilly were in the hall, Danny is a genuinely nice bloke who I have met several times at Blackpool and Mill Hill and what a voice he has, Him and Bob "Rocked Things Up A Bit" with a version of " Little Sister" which had everyone singing and clapping along, Great Stuff Danny.

I thought that was the end but Chris Eley waved over to me to do a song with Bob, Which I was proud to do, Bob asked me if I knew "A Wondrous Place" I told him I did and we started off the song "I Found A Place Full Of Charms

That bought the afternoon to a close and everyone started drifting off, we said our goodbye's and as the weather was so nice we decided to go back to the cemetery to spend another few minutes with Billy, We stood at his grave and thanked him for his music and for all the friendships that had happened because of him. I lent over to look at some cards and Pat took a picture and my silhouette on the headstone looked a bit like Billy's (See Photo)

We set off home at 5pm after one of the best days we had ever had, but it was not over yet on the way home Ed Steward read out my request on Radio Two. he said he had had thousands of requests so I did not think mine would get on, If you would like to listen to it go to the Radio 2 website and click on Ed Stewart listen again. it was in the last quater of an hour, thanks a lot Ed for supporting Billy.