Rest in Peace
We were sorry to hear of the loss of Tony Booth who passed away yesterday at home after a short illness. Tony had been in HRI recently but had been discharged home where is spent his last days in the care of his wife Michelle.
Tony and Michelle were both bowlers for Lowerhouses in the Winter League and Tony also played for the club in the Veterans League and the Huddersfield League. He played his last match just before Christmas for the club's Winter League team. Ironically one of his last matches was in a pairs match at the beginning of December when he partnered with his wife, Michelle. Both were long-standing and very well regarded club members.
Bowling was not the only sport that Tony enjoyed as he threw himself into many sports with a high degree of success. Tony played Rugby Union for Yorkshire before converting to Rugby League where he excelled playing for Fartown as a prop forward.
Golf was also a game he thoroughly enjoyed and he and Michelle were members at Crosland Heath Golf Club. The couple were selected to be among the team of 1,500 marshalls (from 18,000 applicants) for the 2014 Ryder Cup played at Gleneagles and the photograph above shows them in their official uniform on the 3rd hole where they spent the week on duty. Tony tipped the Americans to win the competition whilst Michelle favoured the chances of the European team who did eventually come out on top winning for the third consecutive time.
Tony was not only noted for his sporting prowess but also fondly remembered as a real character on and off the sporting scene. This was exemplified in an article in a posting on the Yorkshire Live website in November 2011 when their food critic wanted someone with a capacity for food to test out an 'all-you-can-eat' offer from a Huddersfield Restaurant. The posting starts:
I have to confess, I am not the ideal candidate for an all-you-can-eat buffet. More of a sheep than a lion, I prefer to graze a little and often rather than devour a huge meal in one go.
I racked my brains to think of someone who could do the buffet real justice and came up with the ideal candidate: Tony Booth.
Tony is well known in the area through his rugby playing days as a prop forward with Huddersfield (Fartown in his day) and his after-dinner speaking. But mostly he’s known for the vast amount of food and drink he can consume in one sitting. We went on Tuesday and were accompanied by his long-suffering wife Michelle.
We looked at the menu and were staggered at the prices. The full buffet was only £6.99 for adults. I immediately began to feel sorry for the owners as Tony’s eyes lit up at the rows of pristine silver tureens laid out on white tablecloths at the bottom of the restaurant.
There were five starters on offer: chicken wings, onion bhajis, seekh kebabs, vegetable spring rolls and chicken tikka. Nearby was a salad bar with the usual suspects, plus chickpeas and a range of sauces and pickles.
After two platefuls incorporating all five starters and the salad bar, washed down by a giant jug of thick yellow mango lassi, Tony had already had more than his £7 worth and we hadn’t even begun on the main courses.
Before going for our main courses, Michelle and I reminded Tony of the restaurant’s sensible “fair use buffet policy”, which states that you can eat as much as you want, but advises you only to take small amounts and not to waste food.
We needn’t have worried. He polished off a further two large platefuls without hardly pausing for breath. In fact, we did not see any wasted food during our hour and a half there.
Main courses were chicken jalfrezi, biryani and karahi, lamb handi, mixed vegetable curry and keema (mincemeat) karahi. One new dish was paya, a curry made from lambs’ trotters. Tony naturally tried it, but admitted to being “not too struck on it”. It is probably a delicacy and a taste he has not yet acquired.
Tony’s verdict was: “It serves simple curries, nothing fancy, but it is good, wholesome food and excellent value.” Michelle added: “I will definitely come again and I’ll bring Tony, it’s easier and cheaper to fill him up here than at home.”
Our thoughts are especially with Michelle at this sad time. Rest in Peace - Tony Booth