25 24

July 17, 2011 WALES on SUNDAY WALES on SUNDAY July 17, 2011 WalesOnIine.co.uk WalesOnIine.co.uk
SHORETOBEFUN
FORBIKERJOHN
WHEN John Hopkins lost
his beloved wife Elizabeth
suddenlylast year, helook-
ed to set himself the chal-
lenge of a lifetime to deal
with his grief.
Tomorrow, the Welsh pensio-
ner andavidbiker will set off to
tackle a feat worthy of her me-
mory.
Johnwill leave his home town
of Tredegar and ride along the
wholeBritishcoastlineanepic
4,000-mile marathon on the
back of a 1985 Yamaha VMax
bike.
Hell chronicle his adventu-
res whichhereckons will last
21 days of solid biking in a
photo book of the mammoth
journey after he arrives back
in Tredegar on August 8.
Amongthescenicspots onhis
trip will be Penzance, Torquay,
Felixstowe, Whitby, Loch Lom-
ond, and Anglesey, Bethesda
and Fishguard in Wales.
Johnis fundingthetripout of
his own pocket even though
stand what its like to do it, he
said. Theres a certain pleas-
ure which cannot be explai-
ned, despite the danger.
Elizabeth hated bikes and
didnt understand why Id
want to ride around on such a
dangerous thing. People who
drive cars in the rain wouldnt
understand that its almost
more fun to do it on a bike.
The former owner of a radio
and TVshop said that while he
hadtravelledaroundtheworld,
including war hotspots in Vi-
etnam and Yemen with the
Army, he was looking to set his
sights tothe extremities of what
Britainhas tooffer becausehe
no longer has a passport.
Hesaid: I havenointerest in
going through the checks to
get out of the country. But if
anything happens in Britain,
Im up for it.
They say Im too old and
heavy for skydiving but
theres nothing I wouldnt do. I
might as well do it on a bike.
OAP rides round British
coast in memory of wife
todays record petrol prices
are making him wince.
It follows on from an all-
Wales tripthe 67-year-oldcom-
pleted in 2008 to raise money
for children of fellow bikers
with terminal or life changing
illnesses, which also spawned
a book about the trip.
Its a big project, as Im get-
ting on a bit, he told Wales on
Sunday. But I cant wait to do
it. Now Elizabeth has gone,
weve just got to keep going. If
you give up on things, whats
the point in living? Theres no
limit to what I can do.
Its truethat I wouldnt have
done this if she was still alive,
as I wouldve been concerned
about having anaccident as I
was looking after her.
With the Welsh project, my
wife was alive and I thought I
would have one last fling I
took a powerful bike, and she
was behind me and said: go
for one last adventure.
Shewouldsupport meinthis
because she supported every-
thing I have ever done.
The biker has ditched the
Kawasaki GT750 he used for
his all-Wales trip for the 1985
Yamaha VMax, a 1200cc ma-
chine he confesses is a very
dangerous bike in compar-
ison being able to travel
400m in 10.8 seconds.
Someone who doesnt ride
a motorbike doesnt under-
by GRAHAM
HENRY
graham.henry@walesonline.co.uk
>> John Hopkins
TV Pauline
says pets
prized by
patients
FORMER Coronation Street
actress Pauline Fleming has
launched an initiative to take
pets into hospitals to help pa-
tients recover.
The Pets As Therapy initi-
ative was launched at Ysbyty
Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan
after the health board said an-
imal companionship can help
speed up the rate of recovery.
Pets will visit elderly men-
tally infirm patients, and de-
mentia care, stroke rehabil-
itation, paediatrics, psychiatric
and oncology departments.
Pauline Fleming who
played Mike Baldwins wife in
Coronation Street was at the
hospital as the scheme offi-
cially got under way.
Dawn Cooper, of the Betsi
Cadwaladr University Health
Board, said the charity already
had long-standing links with
the mental health service at
GlanClwydhospital. This new
development will ensure pa-
tients across the health board
will be able to access this ser-
vice, she added.
Pets As Therapy co-ordin-
ator Anne Jones said the vo-
lunteers and their dogs looked
forward to visiting people
missing their own pets while in
hospital.
All our PAT dogs and cats
must pass a rigorous inde-
pendent health and tempera-
ment test before they canenter
hospital premises, she said.
Twelve months ago the
mental health Ablett Unit at
Glan Clwyd hospital intro-
duced Pets As Therapy as part
of their star wards project.
The dogs have been a huge
success in the unit and the
feedback fromthe patients has
been extremely positive.
Degrees of
uni success?
STUDENTS who attend
former polytechnics are more
likely to be unemployed or in
low-skilled jobs at the end of
their degree compared to
those who go to more tra-
ditional universities, it was
reported yesterday.
Figures revealed graduates
from universities such as
Swansea Metropolitan or
Uwic are twice as likely toend
up unemployed at the end of
their degree compared to
those from red brick in-
stitutions such as Cardiff.
WEIRDWALES
A WELSH MP has called on
David Cameron to
investigate why it cost the
Government 700 to send
boots to a serviceman in
Northern Ireland.
During Prime Ministers
Questions Elfyn Llwyd said
the 45 boots were sent
from Bicester by private
courier. Mr Cameron
promised to look into it.
by GRAHAM
HENRY
graham.henry@walesonline.co.uk
Weirdest Welsh historic insurance claims revealed
TOP FIVE BIZARRE WELSH CLAIMS
AHOSTof wackyhistoric
Welshinsuranceclaims
including one man who
w a s b l o w n
down by a
gust of wind
and pai d
30 have
been un-
cov er ed
by insur-
ance giant Aviva.
Theclaims firmhas thrown
open its vast archives to re-
veal that Victorians were not
afraid to put in the most
bizarre claims.
Among the weirdest pay-
outs was to a Swansea artist
who was awarded 30 the
equivalent of 1,800 in
todays money after being
blowndownby agust of wind
in 1886.
Other claims include kick-
ing a sofa, slipping on orange
peel and a commercial trav-
eller in Carmarthen who was
paid a whopping 1,000
(59,890 today) after his
frightened horse threw him
off his carriage.
The fascinating 19th cen-
tury documents emerged
after the insurance giant
opened its archives in Nor-
wich as part of an exhib-
ition.
Among the dozens of other
bizarre claims from Wales
found in the archive was a
ship chandler from Cardiff
who was paid 36 which
would have landed himmore
than 2,150 today.
His woe? Slipping on or-
ange peel something that
Aviva archivist Anna Stone
saidwas asurprisinglycom-
mon occurrence among the
records that she has pored
through over the last several
months.
It was a bit surprising that
orange peel has turned up all
over the country as a haz-
ard, Anna said.
It appeared to be a coun-
try-wide problem that was
just as usual as slipping off
the kerb. Funnily enough or-
ange peels seem to be the
Victorians versionof banana
skins. It seems that people
may have been eating or-
anges in the street and toss-
ing it over their shoulder or
something.
But now the streets are
cleaner I guess, so people
havelearnedtoput their rub-
bish in the bin and avoid
accidents like these.
Other Welshmen to fall foul
of those in the animal king-
dom included a butcher in
Brynmawr who claimed 13
after he broke his rib against
a chair when chasing a cat.
She added: We have re-
cords for all of theUKthough,
andmy favourite is vicar who
fell and injured himself while
playing a game of leap frog
t he i mage you get i s
bizarre.
The scores of historical
Welsh claims were part of a
UK-wide selection released
by Aviva, formerly Norwich
Union. Wacky claims covered
a range of professions and
situations, including a grocer
in Lancashire playing Blind
Mans Buff, a merchant in
Essex with an injured eye
throwing rice at a wedding
and a tailor in Cornwall who
suffered the ultimate embar-
rassment whenhe missedhis
chair sitting down.
Rob Townend, director of
property claims at Avivasaid:
Obviously insurance claims
change as lifestyles change,
but some incidents appear to
be as common back then as
they are today.
Even in prim and proper
Victorian times people were
still tripping up kerbs, falling
on ice and slipping on
cobbled streets, albeit back
then discarded orange peel
appeared to be the major
culprit.
The supposedly more tra-
ditional slipping hazard, the
banana skin, makes just one
appearance in our archives,
back in 1904.
An unlucky man in Mold
was paid out the princely
sumof 6 (359.34) in 1890
after aiming a kick at his pet
dog, only to kick the sofa
instead, injuring his big toe.
A butcher in Brynmawr
regretted chasing a cat in
1888, after he fell against
a chair and fractured a rib,
requiring a 13 (778.57)
claim.
Turnips proved a prim
and proper Rhyl solicitors
nemesis in 1894, after he
slipped on one, spraining
his knee, requiring a 20
(1,197.80) payout.
A Newport mill manager
may have celebrated a bit
too enthusiastically in 1889,
as he needed a 60 payout
(3,593.40) when a soda
bottle cork exploded into
his eye.
A South Walian surgeon
was injured in 1886, needing
a 106.10 (6,378.29) claim,
after a horse was frightened
by a man cutting a hedge.
(Modern day values in brackets)
>> Claims included man who was blown
down by a gust of wind and paid 30
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