29/01/2021
rip billy.
Billy McNeilly.
With the sad passing of Newcastle man Billy McNeilly towards the end of 2020, an important link to Tom Herron's racing story was broken.
Billy and his wife Edna's friendship and assistance to Tom and his wife Andrea, particularly in the early part of Tom's racing career, cannot be understated enough.
The attached photo of Billy, Tom and Andrea in 1974, is believed to have been taken by the late Bennie Pinners at one of the many Dutch races in the 1960's and 1970's (Herron Family Archive)
Here Mrs. Andrea Coleman pays a personal tribute to Billy, as we at Tom Herron - An Appreciation convey our thoughts and condolences to his family and friends................
"Tom grew up in Newcastle, Co Down.
His home, Ashleigh, was just around the corner from the family home of Billy McNeilly in Tollymore Forest Road.
I don't know when Billy and Tom met but I do know that in 1964 Billy and Edna (Billy's amazing wife) bumped into Tom as they all boarded the Steam Packet from Liverpool to the Isle of Man. Tom was 16.
Tom had no transport and nowhere to stay when he arrived in the Isle of Man. So Billy and Edna took him, on the motorcycle-sidecar, to their 'digs' and made sure he had a bed for the duration of the TT.
By the way, Joe Barber - a fortune teller - was also a resident of Tollymore Forest Road in Newcastle. Joe lived in a tiny croft, opposite the McNeilly home, and Tom and his friends visited Joe often to have their fortunes told by Joe's 'reading of the leaves'. They used to take packets of tea and packets of biscuits to enable Joe to do work on the leaves.
I met Billy for the first time in Tubbergen, Holland in 1972.
Billy and Edna had moved, by that time, to Nordhorn on the Dutch/German border.
Tubbergen was one of our first forays into racing in Europe. It was one of the famous Dutch road races organised by Bennie Pinners in the 60s and 70s.
Billy was thrilled when he heard Tom was coming to his new 'neck of the woods'. And that was the beginning of many years of practical help and support from Billy and Edna as we travelled Europe.
Billy was kind, clever, amusing and dedicated to helping everyone whenever possible. He knew all the gossip but what he knew he kept to himself, unless it was of genuine help to someone.
Billy supported Edna in her amazing work with the church and integrated education.
I always thought of Billy as a man ahead of his time.
He was self sufficient but supported others.
He was an advanced social thinker and was supremely gifted at articulating his thinking in a gentle and brief manner.
If the world was made of people like Billy and Edna and their family the world would be wonderful place.
Thank you, Billy, for your care of Tom over many years and for the affection and kindness you and Edna brought to us both."
Mrs. Andrea Coleman
January 2021
