Peter Davies-The Scribe from the North
The team members and their partners and many fans in, or formerly part of The Sound of Fury Fan Club ‘family’ were extremely saddened and shocked to hear that current Honorary Team Member, Peter, had been taken from us by a heart attack on the 13th October this year. He would have been 82 on the 21st of October-his wedding anniversary.
The funeral was held on 28th October at the West Lancashire Crematorium chapel at Burscough and poignantly the Billy Fury song chosen by Peter was the haunting fan favourite, I’m Lost Without You. Both Peter and his lovely wife Jen had been the only persons to date to be justifiably accorded the honorary fan club positions,
following so many years of dedicated service to the fan club.
Peter had always loved music and saw dozens of stage acts from the 50s onwards, but upon seeing Billy Fury perform in 1959 he became a devoted fan,
spending a lot of time collecting memorabilia and travelling around to Billy’s shows, ending with attendance at one of the final performances in Preston during 1982. Peter was also heavily into football supporting not only Blackpool FC but mainly Blackpool Rovers, and was a keen footballer himself.
In fact, having passed his eleven-plus he elected to cycle two miles daily to Baines Grammar School because they played football-and not rugby as the nearest grammar did!
He also had a love of animals, hence the recent fan club donation in his name to The Railway Dogs Benevolent Fund (address below-donations welcomed).
This organisation provides care for retired British Transport Police dogs. Peter followed the life and teachings of the Dalai Lama and also had a passion for cars. He met his wife Jen at a dance in Chorley and they were married in 1994 in Siri Lanka.
During 2003, not long after the Bronze Statue Project had been completed Peter joined the Sound of Fury Team as a media contact and contributor from Lancashire. Soon he had been coined ‘The Scribe from the North’, a title we believe he was extremely proud of-and rightly so.
By August 2005, during a terribly fraught time for the fan club, Peter, as steady as a rock, had taken over the duties of treasurer and Jen as correspondence secretary was also part of the team.
A bluff no-nonsense and professional man (being a former banker and estate agent he then duly formed his own agency –Peter Davies and Co (the Co was Jen!)), but possessing warmth and a sense of humour, Peter was very ‘old school’ being meticulous in all that he did.
It was good for everyone to have such a person in that crucially key position. A very dignified and proud man, (not qualities found in abundance in this world in more recent years) he engendered much respect from those who knew him. As well as punctiliously performing the quite onerous financial duties,
Peter also continued to undertake research and pen articles,
living up to the epithet coined by fans! One of his major coups was with the befriending of musician and photographer, the late Peter Shelton. This not only resulted in a close friendship which endured until the quite recent death of the one-time member of Marty Wilde’s backing band,
but the generous agreement to allow the sharing of the photographic copyright from those mid-70’s
on stage pictures with The Sound of Fury, was a real shot in the arm for us; and we were always extremely grateful to the two Peter’s for that. At one stage during his fan club tenure Peter had to have a hip operation, debilitating for anyone and especially for someone of his age at the time.
Undaunted he continued with necessary fan club duties and was soon, with Jen by his side, back at Mill Hill fan club events in London again.
Their work together for the fan club was altruistic-without trace of ego or self-aggrandisement-they were typical down to earth Northern characters. Sometime after the hip operation Peter suffered a near death collapse-getting to hospital just in time, and yet not long after was back in the fan club saddle.
The journey from outside Preston down to London and back, three times a year, cannot have been easy at the best of times, even if it was sometimes eased by a stop over after the meeting. This was extreme dedication. Although variously described by Wendy (who took over from him), Jackie and others as a lovely man (which he was), he was also obviously quite a tough cookie!
Certainly by October 2014, Peter and Jen had decided to retire and this was confirmed in the November/December fan club magazine for that year, which contains details of their farewell. Such dedication for over ten years, promoting the legacy of Billy Fury via The Sound of Fury means all fans owe Peter, and Jen, a large debt of gratitude; although they would never see it that way. Our thoughts are with Jen, Steven, Joanne, young Maddie and other family members and friends of Peter and Jen.
RIP Peter.
The Sound of Fury Team and Partners. November 2021.
Donations: The Railways Dogs Benevolent Fund, c/o The Funeral Director. Mr Neil Buckley, 6 Liverpool Road, Penwortham, Preston. PR1 OAD
Peter Davies-The Scribe from the North
The team members and their partners and many fans in, or formerly part of The Sound of Fury Fan Club ‘family’ were extremely saddened and shocked to hear that current Honorary Team Member, Peter, had been taken from us by a heart attack on the 13th October this year. He would have been 82 on the 21st of October-his wedding anniversary.
