BOB SELK  

AS REMEMBERED BY RAY OWEN

Bob had a block of land up Merrivale Road and he wasn't an orchardist, he had a few trees there but he just lived in the house and pottered around the orchard, but you couldn't call him a fruitgrower. He was a renowned cricketer and played for Claremont and was a very good seam bowler or a spin bowler. He developed the technique so that the batsman couldn't see just how he twisted his arm so that he could try to foretell what type of bowl was coming up. Bobby used to undo (he had long sleeves) the button so his coat sleeve fluttered around in the wind as he brought his arm over and of course, the batsman couldn't tell whether it was a googly or a wrong one or anything like that. And Bobby had a good record as a bowler with the Claremont Club - that would be I'd say in the early '20s at least. But Bobby was well known because he had one son, Grove.

He lived by himself at Pickering  and he'd come to the dances and he always brought a lantern. He probably needed it too,on a dark night because he lived about a mile up Merrivale Road. Bobby always had his lantern; we knew when Bobby was coming because the lantern would be showing up. I don't know that I ever saw Bob dancing, but he was very interesting to talk to. His son, Grove was an aviator and saw service, I think he was employed ..... whether under Britian or not, in the Far East - Persia, as we called it in those days - Mesapotania - up that end. And he later retired and came to live in the district, but he wasn't anything of a character like Bobby was.

Everybody knew Bobby and respected him. He was very interesting indeed.

Copyright : Pickering Brook Heritage Group 2008 - 2012