Adrian was always keen on his motorbikes. In the mid 1980’s he asked if I wanted to go down to Brighton with him for the day. I did not realise he meant on his powerful 750cc motorbike. It was my first (and last) bike ride. I think I probably cracked a couple of his ribs I was holding on so tight.  When we finally arrived in Brighton with several hundred other bikers my legs were like jelly. We had a good time there but not surprisingly I chose to get the train back to London. Adrian never asked again – luckily for me.

We also managed to convince Adrian to become a Leyton Orient FC fan, something that he continued with ever since. He often attended home games even once the rest of our gang of four had left London and regularly gave me match reports on the phone after the game.  In more recent years he would go with me to see Leyton Orient when they played at Colchester after he moved to Ipswich.

I will miss our weekly lunches and chats.

Thank you for 40 years of friendship Adrian.