WELLING: Club chairman will get a bikers' farewell (From News Shopper)

WELLING: Club chairman will get a bikers' farewell

1:10pm Saturday 13th March 2010 in

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VINTAGE motorcycle enthusiasts are planning a last farewell to the chairman of the West Kent Vintage Motorcycle Club.

Peter Firth, of Wickham Street, Welling, died in Greenwich and Bexley Cottage Hospice aged 63, after suffering from cancer for several years.

A self-employed motor mechanic, he rediscovered his teenage love of motorbikes 15 years ago, when a friend introduced him to the club.

He bought himself an Ariel Red Hunter and all the motorbike gear and started riding again.

Mr Firth went on to rebuild 11 other bikes, but he only ever rode two of them, his Ariel and a Triumph.

After a number of years on the club committee, he took on the chairman’s job six years ago, helping to organise trips out and charity events, including its annual international event which attracts enthusiasts from all over the world and last year raised £3,500 for the British Heart Foundation.

Mr Firth’s funeral takes place at Eltham Crematorium on March 23 at 3.30pm.

Members of the club will escort the hearse on their vintage bikes, with two friends leading the procession on Mr Firth’s Ariel and Triumph.

He leaves a wife Brenda, who has asked for donations to the hospice instead of flowers.