York men become Oz champs

TWO hockey-playing former York neighbours, who six years ago met by sheer chance on opposing sides Down Under, proved English sportsmen can succeed in the land of Oz when they played on the same team which recently won the Australian Masters Hockey Championships.

In October 1996, the Australian Masters Hockey Championships were being held in Newcastle, New South Wales.

In the cafeteria, Colin Duggleby, a hockey player representing Victoria, recognised a very familiar York accent - it belonged to Denis Walker, who was then representing Queensland.

On comparing notes, they discovered that not only were they both former York citizens but that 50 years earlier, in 1946-47, they had both lived in Haxby Road.

Furthermore, they had lived exactly opposite each other, Colin at No 131 and Denis at No 120.

However, though they had then lived within a few metres of each other, they had never met.

This arose because No 120, which is now the Cornmill Lodge, was then a Council home for orphaned boys, who tended to stay within their own community and not mix with "the other kids in the street".

However, at their chance meeting half a century later, Colin and Denis discovered that they had a number of mutual friends who had resided in the Burton Stone Lane area.

Denis was even able to contact an old girl friend in Scotland, the former Barbara Brown, of Clifton, after obtaining her address from Colin, who was still corresponding with her.

Colin's career had followed an academic path and after obtaining degrees at London and Leeds Universities he emigrated to Australia in 1962 where he worked as a radiation physicist until 1996.

Denis had become an administrator in local government. After working for York City Council and two other municipal councils in England, he emigrated in 1967 and continued doing similar work in Australia until his retirement in 1993.

Colin married Barbara Hopwood, an ex-Mill Mount Grammar School girl and County Hospital nurse, but was widowed in 1995. He lives on the fringe of Melbourne, Victoria.

Denis married Judith Knox, a local government administrator from Bristol, and now lives in Sydney, New South Wales.

Both began playing hockey in York and have continued playing the sport for more than 50 years.

Colin has represented Victoria at six annual Australian Championships while Denis has represented his home State for 11 years and has made an international tour of England and Europe as a member of an Australian Masters hockey team.

In 1996 and at subsequent Australian Championships, Colin and Denis have been in opposing teams but, by a quirk of fate, they found themselves playing in the same team at the recent Australian Masters Hockey Championships in Bunbury, Western Australia.

Veterans' hockey is very strong in Australia and in 2002, for the first time, the range of the championships was extended to include an over-65's age group.

Because the championships were being held in Western Australia, some 4,000 kilometres from Victoria and New South Wales, neither state could find a full squad of 16 players aged 65 years and over who could afford the time and expense to travel across the continent to play hockey there.

The two states therefore joined forces to form a combined Victoria/New South Wales squad and both Denis and Colin were selected for it, Denis as a reliable wing half back and Colin as a penetrating wing forward.

To add the perfect ending to the story, after seven hard fought matches in ten days, Denis and Colin's team emerged as the Australian champions and so each is now the proud owner of a Championship medal.

As for the future, Denis still believes he has enough speed in his legs to continue making a valuable contribution on the hockey field for a few more years yet.

Colin, however, has decided to announce his official retirement from the sport after half a century as both player and administrator. He has returned, after a lapse of 17 years to playing tennis his other favourite sport.

Updated: 11:54 Saturday, January 04, 2003