RIP Frank Griffin

[Black Flash]

Really sad to hear about the passing of yet another great character of the VOC.
I will never forget when he told about his youth riding a Triton. We were laughing a lot as I thought he was joking if only I knew he was talking the truth, what a money pit.
But he also taugt a very important lesson which saved me a lot of money and headaches:
Never assume anything, control everything!
Thank you for these words of wisdom. RIP Frank

 

[Lenni]

 

[Sue Stolze-Beland]

I've only just found this website - purely by chance whilst searching for the name of the Vincent owner who had piloted Concorde and who I had met back in the 70's.
And I now find out that dear Frank is no longer with us. Quite a shock to read and I concur with the many condolences others have written.
One anecdote comes to mind when he made the suggestion that I drive some of us from our camping site just outside Delft during one of the many Dutch Section rallies and drop off Tony Wheatley in the red light district in The Hague! We did try but even Frank couldn't push or pull him out of the back seat.
I'm not allowed to go further into the site as I am no longer a member of the club. Gerrit sold all of his two wheeled bikes (Vincents and Velocettes) quite some years ago when he felt he was no longer safe to ride and he has been banned this year by me and the girls (Beth and Sarah) from driving our car we don't deem him competent to drive on 4 wheels. He can just about manage his bicycle although I tell him to pedal faster otherwise he will topple off!
But I digress and would like to offer my own condolences to friends and family of Frank. He welcomed me into the Dutch section when I moved from London to De Lier back in 1979 and even turned up at my wedding with Doke, John Waltham and John's wife (?) but we lost touch after Gerrit left the club although I remember Gerrit visiting Frank and Doke when they were living in The Hague.

 

[A_HRD]

Sue,

The name of the once Concorde pilot and VOC member, if you don't already have it, is John Bradshaw. But sadly I have lost touch with him now.

As for the passing of Frank Griffin I am truly "gutted". The time I spent with him was some of the most enlightening and enjoyable I have ever experienced. Long sessions at Chrysantplein 10 and at countless rallies led to endless fun and aching stomach-muscles due to the non-stop laughing! His mastery of multiple languages was amazing - as was his ability to mimic the voice of anyone you cared to mention...

Peter Barker
(Son of Jack).

 

[RonandLinda]

I've only just found this website - purely by chance whilst searching for the name of the Vincent owner who had piloted Concorde and who I had met back in the 70's.
And I now find out that dear Frank is no longer with us. Quite a shock to read and I concur with the many condolences others have written.
One anecdote comes to mind when he made the suggestion that I drive some of us from our camping site just outside Delft during one of the many Dutch Section rallies and drop off Tony Wheatley in the red light district in The Hague! We did try but even Frank couldn't push or pull him out of the back seat.
I'm not allowed to go further into the site as I am no longer a member of the club. Gerrit sold all of his two wheeled bikes (Vincents and Velocettes) quite some years ago when he felt he was no longer safe to ride and he has been banned this year by me and the girls (Beth and Sarah) from driving our car we don't deem him competent to drive on 4 wheels. He can just about manage his bicycle although I tell him to pedal faster otherwise he will topple off!
But I digress and would like to offer my own condolences to friends and family of Frank. He welcomed me into the Dutch section when I moved from London to De Lier back in 1979 and even turned up at my wedding with Doke, John Waltham and John's wife (?) but we lost touch after Gerrit left the club although I remember Gerrit visiting Frank and Doke when they were living in The Hague.

Hello Sue, glad you found this site and all the tributes to dear Frank, I can remember meeting up by chance with Gerrit and Frank in a cafe/ bar on the way to a rally riding with Tony Wheatley. Frank and Gerrit on enclosed ' D's ' Tony on his ' C ' Rapide and myself on my much modified ' A ' Rapide.
Great memories from my riding days !
Did you find the name of the Concorde pilot ? I believe it was John Bradshaw and he arranged the VOC Concorde flight out over the Bay of Biscay and back. Tony Wheatley took his mum on the flight for her 80th birthday and first ever flight.
There is an iconic photo somewhere of the Vincents lined up under Concorde.
Stay safe and best wishes from the West London section of the VOC. Ron Thomas.

 

[Ian Savage]

Hi Sue, good to hear from you, please give best wishes to Gerrit from Jenny and I.
You stirred some great memories of early Dutch rallies, we went to this year's rally only a dozen or so there, but still great fun. I still have my Comet, rode it last weekend at a UK rally.
We were able to visit Frank in October last year whilst poorly he was on good form and we had a good laugh I'm pleased to say he'd been a mate for about 40 years.
Ian
PS I actually spoke to John Bradshaw about 3 years ago and he hadn't changed!

 

[Len Matthews]

I've only just found this website - purely by chance whilst searching for the name of the Vincent owner who had piloted Concorde and who I had met back in the 70's.
And I now find out that dear Frank is no longer with us. Quite a shock to read and I concur with the many condolences others have written.
One anecdote comes to mind when he made the suggestion that I drive some of us from our camping site just outside Delft during one of the many Dutch Section rallies and drop off Tony Wheatley in the red light district in The Hague! We did try but even Frank couldn't push or pull him out of the back seat.
I'm not allowed to go further into the site as I am no longer a member of the club. Gerrit sold all of his two wheeled bikes (Vincents and Velocettes) quite some years ago when he felt he was no longer safe to ride and he has been banned this year by me and the girls (Beth and Sarah) from driving our car we don't deem him competent to drive on 4 wheels. He can just about manage his bicycle although I tell him to pedal faster otherwise he will topple off!
But I digress and would like to offer my own condolences to friends and family of Frank. He welcomed me into the Dutch section when I moved from London to De Lier back in 1979 and even turned up at my wedding with Doke, John Waltham and John's wife (?) but we lost touch after Gerrit left the club although I remember Gerrit visiting Frank and Doke when they were living in The Hague.

Hello Sue,you certainly brought back lots of memories of our visits to Holland over the years! My Best Regards to Gerrit.

 

[Sue Stolze-Beland]

Hello Sue,you certainly brought back lots of memories of our visits to Holland over the years! My Best Regards to Gerrit.

He sends his back although I saw on his face he had to have a bit of a think about who this Len bloke conversing with his wife was!! He's in the early stages of dementia and his mind and memory aren't the sharpest knives in the box any more although he does suddenly hit me with stories and names from his past which after 43 years of wedded bliss (?) are quite unknown to me. He will be 'celebrating' 85 years on this blue planet next Saturday and his only medication is a Vitamine D tablet!! I sadly swallow enough for a football team on a daily basis :-( When I told him I had found the VOC website, he promptly sorted out and presented me with a small pile of photo's taken over the years AND a small wooden plaque presented to him during the Dutch Rally when he won the Concours first prize in 1978. In that same year he walked away with the concours prizes at the French, German and International rally if memory serves... and he met me during the same International when Alan Lancaster introduced us during a visit to the local!! I've laughed for a long time about being the runner-up to all his prizes that year.

 

[Colin]

Blimey!! 85 and only on a vitamin D tablet (note the singular", tablet " ) I tow a trailer on my Egli for my medication, and can usually supply the NHS when they run short!

 

[Sue Stolze-Beland]

Blimey!! 85 and only on a vitamin D tablet (note the singular", tablet " ) I tow a trailer on my Egli for my medication, and can usually supply the NHS when they run short!

hahahaha.. I know the feeling Colin only we fortunately don't have the NHS here.... we are all required to pay a basic medical insurance either via our employer (some do some really good deals like MoD where our daughter Sarah works and Ikea where our Beth works) or privately. Gerrit and I are obviously no longer employed even though I still manage our holding company's accounts on a freebee basis (Gerrit thinks that board and food is payment enough!!). We pay for many added extra's both medical and dental as warranted by our ages although I think I've gotten well through our combined 2023 policy payment having needed TWO hospital stays earlier this year... Gerrit just has his dental work credited whilst I rack up the insurance payments although I don't see most of them... it's scary just to see how much all the meds cost in the course of a year and let's not talk about what a week in hospital costs even without meds or procedures!!! Those figures are seriously frightening and I'm just glad our insurance covers most