Camaraderie and practical jokes are key to life as a jump jockey

There were ten or 12 of us who travelled the roads of the south of England most days of the week. I hitched a lift as often as I could, particularly down to the West Country meetings, not just because I had long pockets but I always got so tired and had a real danger of falling asleep at the wheel on the way home.

John 'Burnt Oak' Suthern, one of David 'the Duke' Nicholson's jockeys, had good wheels at the time and was good to provide both a seat and plenty of entertainment. We knew each other's characters pretty well, and they used to laugh at me as I was always the quickest to get dressed after racing. They said it only took me one movement to put on all my clothes – three or four would be more accurate – but it did not take me long, as almost everything went on at once. It was most frustrating if someone had messed about with my pile, as I always liked to beat the worst of the traffic jams out of the racecourses if I could.

Hywel [Davies] used to amuse us all, one knee crossed over the other, rolling a cigarette and trying to put the smallest piece of tobacco into it, so it looked like a very small bent twig when he had finally finished his rolling, invariably telling us some amusing tale about Captain Forster, his boss. Frank [John Francome] and Eck [Steve Smith Eccles] would very likely be comparing notes on last night's entertainment or planning the next; they were never short of a good story.