Competitors at the recent Grafham TT were joined by Sissy Dewhirst and son, Benny who came to say “Hello” and watch the racing. Following Nick’s death, Sissy asked if there were any copies of Phil’s superb cartoons featuring Nick. It is a well known fact that Nick did indeed feature in many, both as a starring role and many cameo appearances, much to his great delight. So that got us thinking. How many were there and where were they? The archives were trawled, back copies of old magazines were dug out (many of which were supplied by George Wood), and they were all scanned and collated. The final tally was over a hundred produced over almost two decades - what an achievement! They have been reprinted in a special ‘Newsprint’ limited edition book entitled “Catch You on the Water - The Cartoon Years by Phil Breeze” The original watercolour of Nick assembling his boat as the 10 minute warning signal sounds was also found and mounted in a frame. It was with great pleasure that Sissy and Benny were presented with both the book and the picture during their visit. Phil’s cartoons have become something of an institution in The Class. Indeed, many members don’t feel they’ve fully arrived until they’ve been caught in one. They seem to quintessentially capture the spirit of Sprint 15 membership which Nick would have summed up thus - “Take the racing seriously but don’t take yourself seriously!” “Amen to that!”, we say. “And, please keep doing what you do so well, Phil!” George Love.
We subsequently received the following note from Sissy. Benny, Oli and I want to thank you so much for the framed picture and the 2 books with the cartoons you gave us on behalf of the Dart 15 association and yourselves. We were so touched and we are grateful that you managed to find so many cartoons and put them together in such a lovely book. We will always treasure it.
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