Brindley hangs up his reins

AFTER a career of more than 40 years writing about WA harness racing, Harvey's Bill Brindley has decided to put down the pen.

Mr Brindley said after writing thousands of stories for many of the State's newspapers, including the _Harvey-Waroona Reporter _, it was time to move on.

Mr Brindley's passion for harness racing began as a six-year-old, when he moved to live with his grandmother in Redcliffe.

"My grandmother lived close to well-known WA harness trainer/driver Bill Foy and I loved to visit them and watch the action as he trained his horses," Mr Brindley said.

At age 15, he would jump the fence at Gloucester Park, where there was an age limit of 18, to see Foy-driven horses compete - including Beau Don, who won two WA Pacing Cups.

His first employment was as a clerk for the State Electricity Commission in Perth but later he found additional employment at Gloucester Park in a variety of roles.

In 1971 he was posted to Wagin, where he became involved with his first harness racing club as a committee member, and later as a steward for the Great Southern region.

This was the first of many clubs Mr Brindley joined as he moved around the State for work and wrote stories to promote the sport.

When he and wife Margaret moved to Harvey in the mid-1990s, he became secretary/manager for four years and later the racing manager for more than 10 years.

"I had a great relationship with Leah and Bruce Jones - we worked together well and there were many fond memories," Mr Brindley said.

"We had a great committee led by Ken Nottle, who lifted the profile of harness racing in Harvey.

"The Harvey trots became an iconic place for families to go and have a great night out."

Mr Brindley said there were many highlights in his career, including receiving the James Brennan Award in 2002 for the promotion of country harness racing.

He said his writing career would not have been possible without the support of his family, especially his wife and four children.

"In the early days I would hand-write the articles and Margaret would type them up," Mr Brindley said.

"At my peak I would write more than 60 stories per month, all for different publications, that were relevant to the area of the paper."

Mr Brindley also wrote for eight other publications under the West Australian Regional Newspapers banner.