The Museum had a visit recently from two stars from the past, Bill Wyatt and John Peake.
Bill, who has recently celebrated his 100th birthday, had the distinction of playing for England both before and after WW2, whilst the slightly younger John won a silver medal with Great Britain in the 1948 London Olympics.
Bill came to prominence in the early 1930s whilst at Cambridge University and went on to have a distinguished career for England, playing 33 times. John and Bill played together in the 1948 team (see team photo) and ‘youngster’ John recalls that Bill was a much respected and stylish player.
Bill had a fall at home the day before the recent get-together, but was not going to put off coming to the Museum. Bill and John spent some time together going through some of the Museum’s collection of photographs and reminiscing about their experiences, whilst their conversation was recorded by a member of the Dorking Oral History Society.
In view of the recent announcement of a Great Britain training squad for Rio, I asked John about preparations for the 1948 Olympics. John told me, “The hockey season ended at Easter with the great gathering at Folkestone. And of course [the Olympics] was going to be in the summer. We hardly met each other. It wasn’t until six weeks before leaving that we had a gathering. We got together with some local people and played, and this is the first time we saw the people from Scotland and Wales. We were all pretty fit; we were playing tennis or squash or something. Nevertheless, we had nothing like the long build-up that they have now.”
Prompted by this I took the opportunity to talk to the two veteran players about fitness. Whilst John believes that players of their era were as fit as modern day players, Bill had a rather surprising take on the subject. “We didn’t go for a five mile run before breakfast,” he told me. “I think our Saturday game was enough to keep us fit.”
The game has clearly changed since their day, but John is very positive about the changes. “I think some of the rules that have changed are for the better. We used to have a roll in from the side and that used to be a rather tangled thing, and long corners weren’t very special. We used to have a ‘sticks’ rule (lifting the stick above the shoulder). That’s gone and I think that’s a pity.”
It was a great experience meeting these two stars from the past. Although the game itself may have changed, it still manages to carry on the great traditions which were established by the likes of Bill and John.
Peter Savage, May 2013
