W
L
'I BEAT TORVILL & DEAN' REVEALS
WIRRAL CARE HOME RESIDENT, 94.
A Wirral care home resident has revealed that he
competed against Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean –
and once beat them in a competition.
Derek Drury, 94, who lives at The Hazelwell, a residential,
nursing, palliative and respite care home in Heswall, started
roller dancing at the age of four, in Manchester and then as a
teenager began ice dancing.
He said: “I started roller dancing very young because I didn’t
like football, and my mother was a roller dance teacher so
it was a natural step. I met my wife on a skiing holiday and
we spent many years ice dancing together at Silver Blades in
Liverpool (now Planet Ice Widnes), and although she didn’t
dance with me competitively, she was very supportive of me
competing.
“For many years I spent every Saturday at the Birmingham
ice rink, and that’s where I first met Torvill and Dean. I
only did ice dancing, not figure skating, but I skated many
times against Torvill and Dean, and I even beat them in one
competition in Liverpool.”
24 wirrallife.com
Derek is still well known in the ice dance world especially
for his choreography work. In his later years, he was a highly
respected judge in the England Championships as well as
National Ice-Skating, judging to a gold standard. Staff at The
Hazelwell recently took him to the Deeside Leisure Centre
in Queensferry when he met up with friends and people he
used to teach how to skate.
Derek added: “I always tried to give helpful advice to all the
dancers after the shows. I love photography and after retiring
as a judge I went on to spend many years at ice rinks taking
photos of competing skaters.”
The Hazelwell deputy care home manager Sue Ball said: “It’s
wonderful for us all to hear stories about Derek’s ice-skating
past. When we’re all enjoying Dancing on Ice, he can fill us
in on behind the scenes expert information. It’s like having a
celebrity in our midst!”
For more information about The Hazelwell contact Sue on
0151 342 9654, email [email protected] or visit
www.thehazelwell.com