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Bill Farnorth
• The most surprised man at the banquet of the recent Buxton Tipping Convention was Bill Farnorth, the Convention secretary, who is also the full-time RHA secretary in the North Western area.
Bill is the kind of man who enjoys doing things, does not seek the limelight and never expects any kind of gratuity. Imagine his feelings when he found himself the recipient of a gold watch handed over by the Convention chairman, Archie Glendinning, in front of almost 400 people.
If one were to look for an RHA secretary representive of all RHA secretaries Bill Farnorth must surely be the choice. They are all men of few words but plenty of deeds.
Possibly the thing that sets Bill aside from his colleagues is the fact that he followed in the footsteps of his father for whom he acted as assistant secretary for four years. After 15 years in the position he is no longer recognized as young Bill nor is he living on his predecessor's reputation, as is so often the case when son follows father.
The Tipping Convention is very much Bill's baby. He reckoned that tipper operators needed a platform for their own particular problems and events have shown that his notion of a tipping convention was absolutely right.
He is completely immersed in the affairs of road haulage but confesses that he spent only 18 months at SPD's Southampton depot on the operating side. He can trace a slender connection, however, back to 1904 when his grandfather was a haulier.
The men of the North West have a man looking after their affairs who in his time has had to be all things to all men. These were the qualities he found he required as assistant purser while working with Cunard on the "Queens", the Caronia and Franconia. He joined the Merchant Navy in 1941 and served for 10 years.
In his spare time Bill, a married man with three daughters, is the .secretary of the Bury and Radcliffe Athletic Club, a WAAA fudge and, believe it or not, supports Glasgow Rangers, all the way from Manchester. His youngest daughter is a Scottish schoolgirl international athlete and a British intermediate international athlete. Both he and his Scottish wife harbour a secret ambition — to see her run in the Commonwealth Games in New Zealand in 1974. I.S.