Les Bond

[Bob Dobson]

It saddens me to be posting about the recent passing a few days ago of Les Bond aged 75yrs, who deserves to be in our Hall of Fame mainly for the quality of his poetry, especially that in dialect. A product of St Johns School and The Tech, Les became a fireman after a spell at the Pioneer works and rose to officer rank. He had an elder brother, Alan, who died suddenly aged 50yrs in 1990 and it was as a partnership that their work was presented to the world of Lancashsire folk music. In the early 80s, they compiled a book entitled 'Extracts from Saturday Night at the Duck & Trumpet, Oswaldwistle' This pub as a product of their imagination, but when in 1991 I published a follow up to it called 'The Lancashire Bonds', I received several enquiries as to where this pub was situated.
They wrote some fine poems, mostly but not all of a comical nature and in recent years Les has performed these, with his guitar, throughout the county. One relatively recent one sang the praises of sarsaparilla, which Les termed 'Nature's Viagra' Another was 'No time fer skrikin' which starts off in an Accrington pub before moving to the Great War trenches and back to an Accrington street where a mother receives a telegram telling of her son's passing. Very moving.
Les wrote several poems featuring Billy Myers ,' who's allus 'avin' chip-pan fires' to get the fire prevention message over.
Les spoke to audiences about Accrington's part in the Great War, his interest having started when he learned that a family member had lost his life in it.
The brothers Bond loved everything connected to Lancashire and its folk. They wrote material for comics - both the live sort and those such as the Beano and Dandy and were members of the Comedy Writers Guild. Les was honoured by being made a patron of the Lancashire Authors Association.
He had had poor health for some years and had had umpteen operations. In September he contracted sepsis in an old wwound and was taken into hospital, where he appears to have caught Covid, from which he slipped away whilst in an induced coma.

[dotti34]

That is very sad, Bob. You have written a wonderful, and very interesting, tribute to him and to his brother. Les Bond definitely should be in the Hall of Fame. A life well lived, but what a sad ending to it. Let's hope their work is preserved for future generations to enjoy.