Ken Sweeting (28 Jul 1946 - 31 Jul 2015)

In memory of Ken.

I was saddened to hear of Ken's death. He was one of the nicest persons I have known.

In loving memory of ken..For years of petrol money for driving me around the country playing hockey.a kind genuine man who was always smiling

Remembering a lovely man

Val & Ken are our lovely neighbours, Paul I know misses his weekend chats with Ken whilst cleaning the car! Ken will be sadly missed by us all xx

Where do I start?
Ken and I have known each other for over sixty years. We grew up together in London of the Fifties and Sixties.

We lived the same life, in the same streets, the same school, friends, football, paper-rounds, holidays – just generally hanging around as friends do.

We had many shared memories, cycling, during the school holidays, to Southend or Clavering with Richard and Robert Phillips.

I remember one day we were playing with air-rifles and I accidentally shot Ken in the elbow, I had to lock myself in the bathroom for hours until he had cooled down and it was safe to come out. There was a holiday in Cornwall with my Mum and Dad in a caravan – we swam to a dingy and fell asleep in the sun, Ken got really bad sunburn, terrible blisters which left him scarred, my mum had to apologies to Mrs Sweeting for bringing him home in such a mess.

There was also the time Ken’s brother Michael was converting his BSA Goldstar motorbike from a road bike to a racing bike. Whilst their Mum and Dad were out the bike was stripped down on the kitchen table at Lisburn Road and the engine was flushed through in the sink. Mum Sweeting was not best pleased when she returned home.

As we got older we worked on a paper stand outside The Mansfield pub after school to earn extra money for Saturday nights. We also took it in turns to take my boxer dog for walks (I think that’s where Ken’s love of this breed came from).

We progressed to going to various pubs in the area, The Duke of Cornwall in Lismore Circus was a favourite, as was The Freemason’s Arms opposite the Heath, or The Stag where we got thrown out for being under age, even though we were eighteen, but Shirley was allowed to stay and she was only sixteen.
The girlfriends arrived around that time. On Saturday nights we were suited and booted in our Italian suits. Normally a £1 whip per couple would see us through until closing time, then off to Camden Town where the Greek restaurants would stay open as long as you wanted.

Shirley and I were with Ken and Val on their first holiday together at the Port Gaverne Hotel in Cornwall, we had a great week.

As we progressed as couples, we got married, moved out of London, had families of our own but we always kept in touch.

I have great memories of our lives together.

Love you mate, Howard.

In loving memory of our good friend.