Mike Hailwood and Nick Drake

Last September I took my caravan to the Midlands, staying for nine nights at the Caravan Club's site at Wythall, south of Birmingham. It was at the north end of what you might call 'Shakespeare Country', centred of course on Stratford-upon-Avon. 

There's a railway line that links Birmingham Moor Street station (which I visited on a day trip into Birmingham city centre: well worth seeing) and Stratford. It runs past Wythall into gently rolling countryside, not especially scenic but very pleasant nevertheless. Naturally it's called the Shakespeare Line. There's a succession of country stations, chief of which is Henley-in-Arden station, but before you get so far south there's a station at Danzey. Like all the rest, it's 'Shakespeare themed'. In fact each station is devoted to one of the bard's plays. Danzey champions Hamlet.  And if you look closely, there will be two boards at each station, one to tell you about interesting local sights, the other carrying a poem and a prose passage connected with the Line or the countryside it passes through. 

This is what Danzey station looks like. The grey Volvo is Sophie, my car.

This is commuter country. I visited several stations on this line, and they were mostly deserted. Only Henley was different. Of course, they would be packed with commuters early morning and late afternoon. 

These were the two boards I mentioned. The poem and prose one first.

Click on the above shot to see it more clearly. I really like both the poem and the text alongside. So might you.

The other board now.

The chap on the motorbike is - was - Mike Hailwood, a very famous name in twentieth century bike racing history. A world-class champion, with part of the Isle of Man TT course named after him (Hailwood's Height, near the summit of Snaefell). Even I have heard of him. He died in 1981, aged not quite forty. A musician called Nick Drake is also mentioned, unknown to me, but apparently revered in the music world. He died a few years earlier in 1974, aged twenty-six. Both lived in the village of Tanworth-in-Arden. Both died tragically, and both are buried in the churchyard there. 

I'd just come from Tanworth, having had enjoyed lunch at the village pub, The Bell. I decided to return to Tanworth later in my Midlands holiday and seek out these graves. And so a few days later, I treated myself to another lunch at The Bell, then explored the churchyard. I was mainly interested in finding Mike Hailwood's grave. It was harder than I thought. I looked at all the gravestones that seemed likely contenders, but no joy. I looked again. Still no luck. 

I noticed an couple of about my age examining a grave under a tree, and approached them. Had they found Mike Hailwood's grave? No, they were there to see Nick Drake's. The young man had killed himself while depressed, even though he was already becoming well-known and well-regarded. It had been very much a local tragedy, and the family were sensitive about respecting his memory. There was a notice about that on the large tree in the shot below.

We chatted. They remembered Mike Hailwood, and knew that every year bikers gathered in the churchyard to pay their respects. But they didn't know where in the churchyard he was buried. I said I'd persevere. Meanwhile they were going to look around the church itself. As I would, once I'd located Mike's grave.

It must be there. Why hadn't I seen it? Then it occurred to me to do a Google image search on 'Mike Hailwood's grave'. This instantly revealed a picture of it, and I then realised that the gravestone wasn't just for Mike, but someone else too. A double gravestone, where I'd been looking for one with only his name on it.

I soon spotted it now, down the slope from where Nick Drake was buried.

Michelle, the girl he was buried with, was his young daughter. His young son survived. They had nipped out for fish and chips. They were killed when a lorry made a foolish and unexpected turn. Mike had actually retired from racing by then, and was now a partner in a bike business. Astonishing how such a skilled rider and driver could fall victim to an accident on an ordinary road, rather than out on the track. 

Well, for me it was mission accomplished. I found the couple inside the church and told them that I'd found Mike's grave, and described where it was. I'm sure they made the effort to find it too. 

There is no knowing how long each of us will live. Good health, money and a worry-free background might set the scene for a long and happy life, but a sudden bolt from the blue can end it all in a moment.