As part of a Tower Hamlets Town Twinning initiative, VPH were invited to supply the bulk of a team for an athletics meet held in Tilburg. Among those available, a team of 11 was selected, including two guests, Steve Matthews of the Metropolitan Police and Peter Gronland of Parmiters School and Woodford Green AC. Alderman Long, a Borough Councillor, came along with a presentation for the Mayor of Tilburg, as did Dick Everson, the Club's Chief Timekeeper.
The party met at Liverpool Street Station on Saturday morning, with Alf Pearson and Major Carr also there to see the party off. The team left in good spirits with a 12-hour journey ahead of them initially travelling by train to Harwich to catch the steamer "St George" for a six-hour journey to the Hook of Holland. Once disembarked and waiting at the train station, some of the team were feeling quite seasick and Vic Faley took great delight in seeing his brother Pete with a blue face. It was only minutes later that Vic himself was leaning over the train tracks and joining in this part of the fun. The next leg of the trip involved a train ride to Tilburg, via Rotterdam, where two representatives with a coach met the East London travellers. The journey finished off with a 20-mile trip to St Michaelsgestels, arriving about 10 pm.
The organisers of the meet, obviously having heard of VPH's reputation, stuck the team in a hostel in the middle of nowhere (wooded countryside and complete solitude) giving them no chance to go out. The hostel itself consisted of some five chalets, each with 18 bunks or beds with shower, etc.
A few hours later, a coach took the party to the stadium, a very modern arena where many sports were catered for, including the headquarters of the Second Division Tilburg United Football Club. Under a blazing sun, the meet started with good performances in the sprints where Steve Payne (100m) and Alan Barber (200m) achieved 11.3 and 23.0, respectively. The Harriers' only victory came from Mike Quanne who won the 5000m by 150 metres, although Woodford Green’s Peter Gronland also scored a convincing victory in the 1500m.
Deric Bareford had previously gotten his hands on sufficient vests to supply the Tower Hamlets team. With the word CASS emblazoned across the vests, it was obvious that these singlets hadn't been created for the occasion. However, Deric, as quick off the mark as ever, explained that CASS stood for “Combined Athletic Super Stars”! At the end of the meet, many of the athletes from the five teams swapped vests. When the swapping melee was over, Vic found himself the proud owner of a white Marks and Spencer t-shirt!
Tower Hamlets finished 3rd equal overall out of the 5 teams with the running section of the team scoring 2nd highest points. The meet was followed by lunch and prize presentations.
The real fun began that night as most of the party decided to explore the sights and delights of Tilburg before returning to the chalets. An early stop at a Chinese restaurant was followed by the pubs and clubs. Steve Payne and Mike Quanne, both highly trained athletes, discovered that shandies were a bit of a challenge after all and, later in the evening, Keith Lowe wasn't well himself after several of the team stopped for a late-night meal. While Keith was sitting outside on the pavement, Wayne left the restaurant, which others interpreted as a gesture of support for Keith. In a sense it was as Wayne spoke to Keith and kindly offered to eat his meal that had been ordered but not touched. This was quite a sacrifice on Wayne's part as he also had his own meal with which to contend.
Monday was spent on the return journey, but not before Wayne spotted a photograph of his race (and himself) on the front page of the local Dutch newspaper. The team arrived back at Liverpool Street at 8:30 pm, another glorious chapter in VPH’s history complete.
