Keswick Lad

Earlier this week I was at Silverstone race circuit to meet up with an old friend, former motorcycle world champion ‘Rocket’ Ron Haslam.  Ron and his family run a fantastic race school which had to move this year because of the closure of Donington Park.  Donington was being re-built to host the F1 car grand prix but the bid failed leaving the track half-finished and unfit for racing.

After several successful years Ron’s race school was suddenly left homeless and without a track.  But his wife Ann saved the day by negotiating a transfer to Silverstone.  On a purely selfish note, Silverstone is a bit of a trek and nowhere near as good for taking pictures of bike racing.  Nothing against the circuit but it is a car circuit, it has lots of room and is apparently very fast – but Donington is about 20 minutes from my Nottingham base and easily makes great bike shots.

I doubt any of this matters to Ron, he just loves bikes and racing.  Ron is from a little village in Derbyshire and I hope he does not mind me saying this but I do not think he was very interested in school.  Ron was always going to be a racer and that was his career, nothing else mattered.

He became a superstar in the sport and travelled the world – but he never changed one bit.  Ron won three World titles, four British championships and raced in almost 110 GPs.  Although the guy is a legend he is still the most helpful person I have ever seen with other racers.  Ron will help anyone with a bike.

As you may have read on earlier posts, some ‘famous’ people have been a bit of a let down – but not Ron.  If you attend one of Ron’s schools he will be there.  He will be racing around the track and helping everyone from the youngest kid upwards.  Ron always has time for a photo or an autograph – too much if you are trying to get him to do something !

If you are a bike fan and love racing then I can thoroughly recommend the Ron Haslam Race School.  They will look after you whatever standard you are, you can go as fast or slowly as you wish.  There is no pressure at all to race, they just want you to enjoy your day and be safe.  I hope I still hold the record for the slowest lap round Donington on a 500cc race bike.  They will also teach you control which might just save your life on the dangerous roads away from the track.  All the equipment is provided and if you are really brave you might be able to buy a pillion ride with Ron – if you dare !

You might also bump into his son, Leon, who is currently second in the World Superbike Championship.  Leon regularly visits the school when his own work and golf commitments allow.  The school is most definitely a family business.

Ron also runs a course for young riders where he teaches basic road craft.  He shows the kids how to stop and corner with total control.  He is not trying to teach them to be ‘boy racers’ but he is making sure they are safer when they do venture onto the open road.

This week Ron had TV commentator Martin Brundle and former racing driver Derek Warwick at his school.  As they arrived the weather changed for the worse and the track was soon wet.  Ron kept warning them that bikes do not handle like cars in the wet but they ignored him – until Warwick was sliding along the tarmac just after his bike !

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Back in the distant days of the early 1980′s Britain was in economic meltdown.  Over 3 million people were unemployed and I was one of them.  Maggie Thatcher was in charge and we were heading towards the Miners strike.  Thinking about it, the country is in a similar state today but I am definitely not and there is one main reason for that – a man called Paul Delmar.

I first met Paul at Richmond College in Sheffield in September 1982.  He was going to teach me to be a press photographer.  I had already dropped out of one college course but nine months of doing the ‘full monty’ dole office queue scene had given me the determination and drive to make sure there were no more mistakes.  This was my big chance and fate had dealt me the perfect hand with Paul Delmar.

Paul was the most enthusiastic person I had ever met.  His passion for photography was unbelievable, he was driven by trying to be the best press photographer and beating every other photographer every day – I was hooked.

He was the most amazing teacher because he never actually told you anything.  He just wound you up and sent you out to discover things for yourself.  But he also filled you with the desire to succeed and to be the best – even against a classroom of 13 friends.  It was always ‘dog eat dog’ with Paul and that also appealed to me.

Over the years I have tried to keep in touch and I have seen the same enthusiasm inspire hundreds of great photographers.  His courses must have taught over 1000 photographers.  From that about 95% have found jobs in the industry – it must be one of the most successful courses in the world.  He has taught people who are now picture editors, national newspaper staff photographers, British Press Awards winners and he picked up a few awards himself along the way.

In recent years changes to government education funding has caused problems for the course.  The National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) has not been able to secure a status for the course which would provide the required funding.  It is a national disgrace that this course cannot be funded – particularly when you consider the success rate and some of the more ridiculous alternative courses available today.  This is the only specialist course for press photographers in Britain – it is not another media studies course.

Earlier this year Paul agreed to take redundancy in an attempt to cut the cost of running the course.  It was decided that the course could no longer justify a full-time tutor.

When Paul announced that he was leaving the rumour mill fired into action.  Various websites and trade press ran stories saying that Paul was retiring and that the course was closing.  The NCTJ stood back and watched as the rumours almost killed the course, they refused to issue any statements and just passed everything on to the Sheffield College.  Why the NCTJ are not fighting to save this course is a mystery.  The media industry has never been more visual than it is today but the NCTJ does not appear to want to run a press photography course in 2010-11.

Paul and his family have given everything to press photography.  They have all lived for his desire to produce the next batch of great photographers.  The newspaper industry owes a great deal to Paul Delmar and his family.  It would have been nice if he could have walked away from the college knowing that his course was safe, but that has not been the case.  It has still not been decided if the course will run even though students have been interviewed in the past few weeks.

On Friday 30th July Paul leaves Sheffield College.  No events have been planned to mark the event, but  I will be popping along to buy him a drink or two and thank him on behalf of every photographer who attended his courses.  Paul Delmar will always be a legend and I wish him well with his future projects and thank him for rescuing me from that dole queue.

Cheers Beers Mr Delmar !!!

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