Many of our supporters will fondly remember Alan Walker who passed away nearly five years ago. Alan was a great devotee of The Hockey Museum (THM) and one of hockey’s great historians. Thankfully his very considerable collection (approximately 100 boxes) was collected by THM from his house last Saturday. At his late widow’s request, we have not been able to access this unique collection until now, but it is in good order and now in safe hands.
Late Navy hockey historian Lt. Cmdr. Alan Walker RN. |
Lieutenant Commander Alan Walker was a Royal Navy man through and through and a totally committed hockey enthusiast. Fortunately, he also loved history. His collection represents the second largest that THM has ever received – we are not aware of anything as big still to come.
Alan was secretary of Royal Navy Hockey for a quarter of a century and his collection naturally contains an enormous amount on Navy Hockey and significant Navy hockey players. However, he was also one of the few that set up the English coaching qualification system around 1970. He went on to become an England team manager; he was significantly involved in Combined Services Hockey; he founded Gosport Hockey Club and the list goes on! Alan was also responsible for our Hon. Curator’s son joining the Royal Navy.
We have managed to ‘borrow’ a small warehouse to temporarily house Alan’s immense collection and vitally sort it into its different areas. We moved all the material to Woking last Saturday; now we must organise and archive it. If you would like to assist with this fascinating work, please let us know using our online contact form.