On New Year's Day 2005 David Lyle sadly died from liver cancer in a Swindon nursing home, into which he had been moved from his home in Purton that very day.
David was a life member of the CTC, having joined the club in 1943.
Those of you that knew David will know that he was a very private person who was somewhat reticent and insular in the presence of strangers, but who was much less so in the company of fellow cyclists. He had a dry wit and was a master of puns, which he would frequently pronounce to companions on passing the entry sign to a village or town. These were so obscure in many cases that one had to ask David for an explanation. A very erudite answer was often forthcoming - an indication that David was extremely knowledgeable and well read.
Cycling was, without doubt, David's main pleasure in life, accentuated towards the end by the demise of his closest relatives, leaving him virtually alone. He moved to Purton in the early 1960's when his firm - Delloro Stellite - moved their factory from Birmingham to Swindon. David was by profession an industrial chemist and it was probably due to this that he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during his national service.
He was born in Portsmouth in August 1926 and was a member of the CTC in Birmingham before coming to Purton. I first met David in the late 1960's, when he was joining our former president Bill Gibbs and wife Hilda on rides, there being no formal CTC Section in Swindon then, the pre war Section having ceased to exist.
We were all fond of 'rough stuff, i.e. riding bridleways and tracks off-road, long before the advent of mountain bikes, and the four of us, together with Derek Butler from Kent, made many tours together. David introduced me to the delights of Bob Kemp's continental tours, the first of which for me was to Corsica in 1973.
Later on David and I managed to resurrect the Swindon Section in 1981, and as Chairman right through to the 2004 AGM, David's contribution to our Section's continued existence has been invaluable.
As a rider David's style was that of a "grinder" rather than a "twiddler", i.e. his strength via his very strong legs enabled him to climb in a gear much higher than less able mortals like myself. I remember, on a Bob Kemp alpine tour watching distant riders ascending a pass, and long before they had reached an identifiable distance, I could pick out David by his much slower pedalling rate than the rest. His only concession to the steepness of a gradient was to remark, "I had to use my bottom gear on that one", and here I am talking about 1 in 5 or steeper.
David was never a racer, but he had tremendous stamina, and when visiting his late father in Lymington he used to ride the 70 plus miles from Purton non-stop. Quite apart from organised CTC tours David often did lone tours, and has ridden in every county in Britain. He has mastered such rough stuff epics as Lairig Ghru in the Highlands of Scotland. Using his extensive knowledge he wrote many articles for The Tourist (The CTC Bristol DA Magazine) and won the associated DA awards for these efforts on several occasions.
He also contributed to the Salisbury Section magazine and to the journal of the recently formed Milestone Society. Tracking down old milestones was a fairly recent addition to his many interests, and it was this interest that brought him to join the Purton Historical Society, which subscribes to the Milestone Society.
David, you will be long remembered as a very special member of the cycling fraternity. May you rest in peace.
Eric Tull
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