Northern Centre member David Birkinshaw sadly lost his battle with pancreatic cancer earlier this year in January. He died in St. Annes Hospice Manchester after having been treated for many months as both an out and in-patient at Christies, the Christie NHS Foundation Hospital in Withington, Manchester.

Unfortunately for us in the AHC David did not join our ranks until 2009 when he ticked off one of his items of wants for retirement and bought himself an Austin Healey 3000; his black Mk 2A BJ7, VAS 842. I say unfortunately because we had too few years to get to know him and to enjoy the privilege of his company but immediately on joining the Northern Centre David's comprehensive knowledge of all forms of classic motoring, including cars, bikes and racing, combined with his gentle, kind and friendly manner endeared him to our members. He quickly became a regular at most of our events, showed a keen willingness to help whenever possible and indeed joined our committee as Vice-Chairman in 2011. He usually attended club events with his wife Barbara and, as well as the local events, they also joined travelling groups on forays into Europe. At the 4th European Meeting at Crieff in 2013 David and Barbara were part of Tony Curran's team that helped make that event such a success and the club owes them a debt of gratitude for that.

Because we knew David for only a few short years many of us were not fully aware of his "history before Healeying". However we did know that he worked part-time for H&H Classics and their web site recently posted a moving and comprehensive eulogy that informed us that David was born and educated near Derby before moving to Manchester to take up a career as a sales rep for a major department store. He met Barbara in Manchester and they originally lived in Bury until David set up his own business, Progress Interiors, selling office furniture from premises in Stockport, and they moved to Heaton Mersey.

Like many of us I suspect, David's initial interest in motoring was sparked by motor bikes in his youth and that this was tempered by necessity as he later turned to cars to fulfil family and work needs. He owned several later-to-become classics including an MGA twin-cam but his love of bikes was re-ignited when he met a neighbour, Dave Ecob, who was restoring a BSA motorcycle. They became good friends and together bought Kawasaki road bikes. They visited local racing circuits and the Isle of Man for the TT races and, bitten by the bug, they trained as Track Marshals and served at local circuits such as Oulton Park and Darley Moor. Such was Dave's interest in classic motorcycle racing that he went on to acquire several classic racing bikes. These he prepared but, rather than race them himself, he preferred to sponsor riders and to attend circuits throughout the UK and on the Isle of Man as an entrant, race mechanic and support for his riders. He certainly enjoyed the thrill of speed and he rode his Ducati and Yamaha on many non-competitive track days both in the UK and in Europe at iconic tracks such as Assen and Spa Francorchamps. He also owned two off-road machines, a KTM and a CCM, that he used to compete on Enduro events in Mid-Wales.

I think David's zest for speed on two wheels was being tempered by age and on the wane by the time he joined the AHC and he probably looked on his Austin Healey 3000 as a more sedate way of enjoying his passion for all things associated with classic motoring. He hadn't entirely settled down however as an "off" on one of his motor-cycle track days left him with a damaged shoulder that spoiled his Healeying plans for the rest of one year and I think that may well have been his last track day on two wheels. He still enjoyed speed on four wheels though and showed a considerable turn of it in VAS on the Knockhill track at the Crieff event in 2013. He acquired a TVR Grantura Mk IV as a restoration project that he intended to build for use on track days and navigation rallies but unfortunately he was diagnosed with cancer shortly after commencing the work and he was not able to progress it further.

Despite battling his cancer David still tried to attend club meetings whenever possible and kept in touch with us throughout his illness. His bravery in fighting against such an indiscriminately cruel disease and in ultimately accepting his fate with such dignity is an inspiration to us all and will stay clear in our memories for many a year. We can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Barbara and his family over the period of his illness and how much they will miss him in the future. We send our sincere condolences to Barbara, to Nikola their daughter and son-in-law Rick, grand-children Sam and Jessica, and to David's mother and sister. Please know that David will be sorely missed by his friends in the Austin- Healey Club and we hope that his family will take comfort in knowing that and keep in touch with us in the future.

(The photo of David was taken as he changed a punctured wheel on VAS on a Northern Centre Yorkshire Run on August 2014)

Ivor Davies