Devon Cricket, already struggling to come to terms with
the sudden demise of Geoff Evans, suff ered another
serious loss when Stuart, aft er a long and courageous fi ght
against his Cancer fi nally succumbed on 13th May 2017.
I do not have the ability to put into words the sense of loss
that his family suff ered, although everyone knew the end
was coming all his close friends were equally distraught,
it was if we had all lost a brother - he was a guy you could
depend on.
I will endeavour in the following text to pay tribute to a
friend of 60 years, someone who could not keep sti ll for
long, and certainly never stop talking!
Dates and ti mes to me I’m afraid are lost down the years, but his ‘footpath’ is, I’m
confi dent prett y much correct.
I was looking forward to leaving school at 16 and starti ng an apprenti ceship as a
Compositor on the local newspaper, Stuart was going into the family business of
producing sausage skins for most of the butchers in the Plymouth area. He lived
in Whitchurch with his Mum and Dad, and Dad’s brother George, Stuart’s elder
brother Donald had left home someti me earlier to become a Butlins Redcoat as a
Compere Comedian at various holiday camps around the country, and during the
winter had the dream job of touring the country with, and introducing on stage, up
and coming entertainers such as The Searchers, Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard.
Stuart was playing cricket for Whitchurch Wayfarers and football for Wescon United,
aft er a couple of years he joined Tavistock Cricket Club starti ng a ‘love aff air’ that
lasted unti l that fateful day 55 years later.
His family were great followers of horse racing, and every Saturday morning about
1130 the Munday clan (Stuart, his Dad Bill, his 2 uncles plus the only non family
in the Business would meet in the Queens Head Pub (now a Weatherspoons), to
discuss the runners and riders for the aft ernoon, at 1230 prompt Dad collected
everyones selecti ons, their stake money and went to the Bookies, he would be back
at 1250 for his half of bitt er and home for Lunch at 1315, it was possible to set your
watch by Bill’s movements, a lovely man.
Aft er a few years Stuart was taking a correspondence course in bookmaking and
aft er getti ng top marks was off ered a post with the Mecca Group in Bristol. To start
with he was helping out in the various shops around the city, learning the ropes and
getti ng acquainted with the ups and downs of the life of a
Betti ng Shop Manager in a big city.
He was no longer able to travel back to Tavistock for his
cricket at weekends so began to play on Sundays for the
Mendip Acorns, a nomadic side who played anywhere
they could get a fi xture and had played at Tavistock over a
weekend for many years.
Eventually he was given a permanent positi on, in charge
of the city Tote Betti ng shop in St. Pauls, Bristol. This was
one of the toughest areas in the country at that ti me and
the longest any manager had lasted at this shop had been
2 weeks, the majority had walked off aft er just a couple of
days! Stuart was there for over 2 years transforming the place through strength of
character and plenty of humour, he employed a ‘minder’, a huge West Indian guy
called Stone, who taught him all the West Indian swear words so that when the
customers started on him, he was able to give it back in spades, hiding behind Stone
of course!
He gained tremendous respect from the locals, the shop became very successful,
his bosses were happy, the police were no longer being called every aft ernoon
so they were happy, he was also given 2 complimentary ti ckets to the notorious
Bamboo Nightclub for every weekend, I was with Gloucestershire at the same ti me
sharing a bedsit with David Shepherd and said I’d give it a go, as long as Stone was
with us! I soon had a problem, because the membership side of the ‘Boo’ was made
up of 99.99% West Indians well known for their love of cricket, and unfortunately
Stone had been bragging about me giving him some free passes for various games,
so I was soon a target, being promised all sorts of things in return for free ti ckets!
Some guy called Sobers had just signed for Notti nghamshire, and then the pressure
for Gloucestershires game against them at Bristol was really on me, I could have
shift ed 250 at least if it had been possible, so I put the four I had obtained up as a
raffl e prize in their weekly draw for a local charity! Sadly it all came to a sudden stop
at the ‘Boo’ when one evening someone pushed a shotgun through a window and
killed one of the regulars, ti me for us to reti re - unhurt.
Not long aft erwards Stuart’s Dad died suddenly and he decided to return home to
support his Mother. He took a job with Ladbrokes in Plymouth as a Relief Manager
and it was here that met his future wife Wendy, who was managing a Ladbrokes
shop in the city.
OBITUARY - STUART MUNDAY
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