Sad news, Ged Layfield passed away on 01-Nov-22 after a few years when his health was not at its best.

Ged, together with his wife Marilyn, were early members of the 4Cs.  Margaret and Bruce on‘Lucky B’ recollect meeting them on the way to the 2013 IWA Festival in Watford, chatting while working the locks was their introduction to the 4Cs.  From this meeting they were introduced to Angela and John Cheesborough on ‘Time Out’, who they met up with again later, together with Lynn and Bob Hallam on ‘Cormorant 2’.

From the chance meeting with the 4Cs, Marilyn and Ged, on their boat ‘Jigsaw’, joined the 2013 Thames Tideway cruise.  The following year they were part of the IWA Festival in Chester and the River Mersey crossing.  Lynn Hallam remembers at Chester, when gathering for the 4Cs tradition of ‘Pimms O’Clock’, Ged decided some music was required ? – doesn’t everyone have a working wind-up gramophone on board!!  Unfortunately, care of grandchildren took over their lives that meant boating was curtailed, resulting in the sale of Jigsaw due to lack of use.

Ged became Secretary of the 4Cs in 2015 and competently fulfilled the role.  Martin Turner recollects how, in his time as Commodore, he got on well with Ged, who would give him advice and dish-out the occasional nagging.  He relinquished the Secretary role in 2017 to Mo Wood.  She is grateful for the help and assistance he gave with the handover and his continued support behind the scenes for her first year in the role.

Ged, with his son Robin, setup the 4Cs website in 2014, compiling all the content to provide a public face of the Club.  Also, they introduced Mobilise as the communication platform for operating the Club as Members are spread far and wide.  He carried on maintaining the Website until Gerard Bird took over in late 2020, when Ged decided his health was deteriorating.  Gerard says he considered himself the Apprentice as he had to do a lot of quick learning from Ged, who will always be The Webmaster.

The 4Cs send their condolences to Marilyn and the Family.  The Club will always appreciate Ged’s efforts and the benefits he brought to the Club.  A common recollection about Ged was that he was fun to be with and had an infectious smile.