Tuesday, 16 March 2021

Geoffrey Speechly - Farewell Friend.

2014 - Geoff was one of our original members

With immense sadness we learned that Geoff passed away this morning.
He leaves a great hole in the ranks of the Hightown Writers Workshop.
We will miss the fun he always brought to every meeting; 
his memories, his humour, his friendship and his writing.

R.I.P
💔



We reproduce, with great affection, Geoffrey's uplifting poem, London Spring.
It captures the sunshine he always brought with him.

Willows are weeping in Wimbledon 
Hedges are blooming in Bow
Cars are quite spotless in Richmond
And the ladies are back in Soho.

Dustbins waft perfume in Cricklewood
Crisp-papers quite perk up the Strand
The Green grows bacilli in Twickenham
And litter envelopes the land.

In St. James’s the tourists stroll silent
Amazed at the style of the place
In the City the brokers from Surrey and Kent
Trade at an incredible pace.

In Buck House the sovereign takes tea there
With napery fine and cups gold
She sips and she ponders and I’m quite sure she wonders
If she’ll still be our Queen when she’s old.

From Stanmore to Barking the sparrows are larking
For the Spring has returned once again
And all over the region smiles are many and legion
As we welcome the sun and the rain


3 comments:

Running Pen said...

Many thanks for this kind gesture. Dad was always full of energy and ideas, always sharing and caring for others. He produced some 400 poems and more over his 90 years.
He was- thankfully - compos mentis to the very end, surrounded by people who cared for and loved him. We spoke and Skyped regularly and it's a great loss. The funeral will be around the 4th May - probably at Telford crematorium, but we are hoping to give him. proper send off sometime in June when the pub open. He would have appreciated that.
Marc Blake (elder son)

Liz O said...

His writing legacy continues to give much pleasure and he often spoke of his desire to get his memories recorded - I think he was well on his way to achieving that goal. I hope his writing brings comfort and smiles to you all at this time.

Running Pen said...

Dear All.
Dad /Geoff's funeral will be at St Mary's, Eastcastle St on May 6th and 1pm.
Due to Covid, places inside are limited. I will be writing to some of you who have asked to be included - others all welcome outside- hope to have spare Orders of service and it will be streamed on the church facebook site.
We hope to have another send off- a proper memorial, hopefully Saturday September 4th in Bridgnorth.

There will be an obituary in the Bridgnorth Journal next week.