Laner

Who's Laner, well that's me, and at this time I was almost the physical inverse of Tank, if that makes any sense at all, and at five foot six inches tall, I weighed in at a measly eight stones four pounds, making me the smallest of the High Five's by some margin.

Hard to imagine now, but my head was covered in a thick coat of dark brown hair, almost mahogany in appearance, that hung soft and straight. It was cut in the style of a Beatles Mop Head, or at least that's what I thought. My eyes were a little darker and much brighter then, a kind of hazel nut brown, my skin was fair and refused to tan easily in those days, which could leave me looking pale, even in the strong summer sun.

Seen in my normal baggy and raggedy clothing, I was frequently taken for a bit of a weakling, but what lay beneath that slight shell was deceiving. What weight I had was invested in muscle, and there wasn't an ounce of excess fat, how I wish that were true today. Being naturally fit, I always did things at a pace, was always running and rarely walked, or took the easy option, and was always up for a physical challenge, particularly ones of an endurance nature.

I was a baby boomer, coming from a typical post World War П council estate family of the 40's and 50's. Like most people of my generation my parents Ted and Grace hadn't heard of birth control, and it wasn't required in a society that was encouraging a growth in the working class, which had been severely culled by successive world wars.

Being the eldest of six children I never knew a life without responsibility, learning at an early age not to take anything for granted, and never complained about my woes. My greatest sadness, was to see the sallow look of desperation in the eyes I loved, and the anguished look upon her face, when she could not satisfy the most meagre of my needs, and I did not want to be responsible for any further signs of stress, on my Mother's, already tired face.

Among their peers, our family were not poverty-stricken, but even so, there was only ever enough money for the bare-essentials of food and clothing, luxuries such as holidays were limited to rare day trips, to places such as Weston-Super-Mare, Brean Down and Severn Beach.

Throughout my school life, it was my good fortune to remain a member of a group of four very tight friends, creating a bond which would last a lifetime, the genesis of the friendship began with me and Scaasi, and was destined to end that way, as we sadly lost the two youngest members Art and Bruno, some time ago. In the main, during these formative years we kept much to ourselves, and only fleetingly shared our kinship with others, and this story tells of one such period at the end of our school years.

At the end of the academic year there were no plans for any of us to remain at school for the Fifth Form. We'd spent so much time bunking off, that our parents would not have encouraged it, and I was more than happy with that, as were my mates. But as I now know things rarely go to plan, and when due to unforeseen circumstances, I found myself returning for a stint in the 5th Form, I felt very much, the outsider of the pack.

Even though considered to be a fairly bright lad, there was no interest on my part in academics, my heart had been firmly set on a golf career. Although more than competent at most activities requiring physical prowess, golf was the only sport of interest to me. Introduced to the game by accident, via a part-time job cleaning golf clubs, I excelled at it from the outset. From the age of fourteen I spent every available moment of my spare time at Filton Golf Club, the local course.

I would rise at the crack of dawn, race to the course, and would arrive very early in the morning, often before anyone else. In the days before the Club Professional entrusted me with access to the keys, he would often find me sitting on the Club House steps, when he arrived, come rain or shine.

Conversely, I'd frequently leave late in the evening, and in late autumn or winter, this would invariably be well after dark. I believed my understanding of the course to be unique, and fancied that I could travel it blindfold, and welcomed the occasion when nature created a Pea Soup fog, delivering me the ideal conditions in which to test out this boast.

Next