It is with great sadness that we have to report the passing on Tuesday morning of our President Peter Boston, aged 88. Peter had moved into Brook View Care Home, in West Moors, a week before his death due to failing health. He leaves behind his brother James, (a Jubilee family member), sister-in-law Sheila and his niece Hilary to whom the Club offers its condolences.
Peter was born in December 1927 in West London. The family later moved to Woodford Green in South West Essex where he spent his childhood and early adult years.
He was born to be a cyclist, starting just a few months after he was born, being transported in a tandem sidecar on various camping holidays. Cycling was therefore in the blood and around 1943, soon after starting work for Barclays Bank in London, he was able to update to a modern F.C. Parkes and Peter’s cycling career was underway.
It seemed natural at around the age of 18 that he should join a club and out of a great number of racing clubs in north-east London he chose the Forest CC.
In 1946, at the age of 18, Peter was called up to join the Royal Air Force. He was hoping to be flight crew but the entry exam revealed his mathematical skills so he was trained as a radar technician. The RAF had active cycling groups and as pay certainly did not run to fares home, he cycled to and from Camp for weekend leave, up to 100 miles each way. Riding back to Wiltshire from Woodford he would often take advantage of slow moving buses and lorries to provide ‘back wheel’ along the A4. This certainly provided the basis for a successful racing career, especially in the longer distances.
He made steady improvements in his racing and soon became the Club’s fastest rider, winning a string of Club events and being well placed in Opens. Peter usually won the Club Championship.
Peter was a keen Scout and he ran the Venture Scout Group in Chingford from the early 50’s through to 1972 when Barclays Bank decided to move him to Bournemouth. Many young lads were steered towards Peter’s group to gain life experiences which would help them later in adult life. He lead them on mountaineering trips to Wales, the Lake District, Scotland, Norway and the Alps. He also took them gliding, rock-climbing, camping and pot-holing. Some eventually joined the Forest CC spurred on by Peter’s enthusiasm for cycling. Many remain very grateful to this day for Peter’s help and kindness.
On moving to Bournemouth (West Moors) Peter threw himself into the local racing scene with the Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers and VTTA. In addition to racing he did more time-keeping which he had started on the Eastern Roads and whilst he has never kept a record of how many events he has timed it must clearly have run into many hundreds over a 30 year period.
His own time trials have always been fully recorded and he has ridden well over 800. Peter raced over six decades and did his best 25 with 1.0.40 when he was 53 years old.
Peter was an expert skier and a founder member of the Dorset Ski Club, only retiring from skiing when he was in his seventies. He was a cycle tourist in the Alps, Corsica, Cyprus, Norway, the Pyrenees as well as all over England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. A member of the Scrumpy Wheelers for 40 years he loved real ale being an early member of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale). His favorite watering hole was The Vine at Pamphill where, incidentally, he held his 80th. birthday celebration, attended by many of his cycling friends.
When he retired early from the Bank at the age of 55 years, one of his first trips was to successfully climb Mount Kilimanjaro, at 19,341 feet, the highest mountain in Africa.
Peter will be remembered by all who knew him as a kind, considerate and helpful friend who always looked on the positive side of life and who lived life to the full.