Des Butler’s memories of cycles and steam
Before he passed away, Des Butler, of Belmont North, showed me the spectacular model trains he made from scratch, and his prized old motorbike. He loved a chat, and his stories interested me, describing as they did another Hunter Valley in another time, so different from today. Des told me how he used to travel all over the Hunter to race against the region’s best sports cyclists, and often raced from Muswellbrook to Maitland, just for fun. ‘‘The best time I ever made from Singleton to Maitland was 59 minutes, with a westerly behind me,’’ he…