Posted on July 5th, 2020 by Deheers Team
The following images and excerpts come from a mix of Jones family photos and newspaper articles and give a charming insight into life by the seaside in the early 60’s, which was a busy time for Davy who balanced his time between a busy beach float business and his passion for spearfishing.
1961 – Weymouth diver is champion
Two Weymouth Associated Divers’ teams competing against 31 other teams from throughout Britain, won all major events at the National Skin-Diving Championships at Looe on Saturday.
Davy Jones, a 23-year-old steel erector and member of the Associated Divers’ B team at the championship, won the Individual Open Spear-Fishing Championship with a total catch of 35lbs. 7oz.
This included an angler fish of 28lbs., the heaviest caught during the six-hour contest.
Jones was competing against 124 of the country’s best skin divers.
He was presented with a £30 underwater watch and the Billy Butlin championship Cup of Great Britain. The other team members received tankards and replicas.
Weymouth teams were: A team: Andrew Smith, Terry Hall, Terry Thomas and “Bugsy” Bugler. B team: David Jones, Wilson Dagger, Philip Burns and M.Barnes.
1962 - Davy Jones is spear-fishing champion again
About 500 people attended a civic reception and dance held in the Olympia Ballroom on Saturday night for competitors in the North of England open spear-fishing championships.
The Mayor and Mayoress of Scarborough presented the trophies and prizes to the winners of the championships.
The champion’s trophy went to Davy Jones, last year’s national spear-fishing champion, who had a catch of 14 lb. 5 oz. Jones was a member of the Weymouth Free Divers team, which won the champion team trophy with a total catch of 18 lb. 4½ oz.
1963 - Weymouth spear fishers back from Brazil
Out and about again in Weymouth are the town’s two members of the British team in the world under water spear fishing championships, staged in Rio de Janeiro.
It has taken them seven days to recover from the sickness that struck the British team and robbed them of a higher place in the competition. They were eleventh out of 14 entries.
But they fought sickness-and the need for different techniques, in the clear waters off Brazil to turn in a better performance than any other British team has managed before.
The Weymouth swimmers were Davey Jones, spear fishing champion of Britain for two years running and his Weymouth team-mate, 26-year-old Mike Barnes (not pictured)
They were so weak and sick at the end of their eight-day stay in Rio that they turned down the offer of a British Millionaire to give them a week’s holiday when the competition was over.
Big Davy Jones ate (and kept down) about two meals in the eight days he was there. He lost a stone and a quarter in weight.
“We were sick all the time,” he said today. “And when we were underwater we just hadn’t the energy to do anything at all.”
Despite that, the British team notched 32,000 points. They would have had more except that language difficulties prevented them understanding part of the rules, and they landed some fish that didn’t count.
“I think if we had been fit, we would have got up to maybe fifth or sixth place.” said Davey Jones.
Category: Old Harbour