We are always delighted to let you know about ex-Pembrokians who are now playing sport somewhere else in the world and this week we let you know all about a genuine character of sport who moved some years ago to the ‘Land of the Great White Cloud’!
 
John Mayhew was well known in Neyland sporting circles and elsewhere in the community before he decided to follow his daughter Debbie and her family out to New Zealand to start a new life there in the small, but sports-mad town of Cambridge, which nestles nicely in the Waipa District of the Waikato Region, up north in North Island.
 

The Town of Trees and Champions

 
Cambridge is known as ‘The Town of Trees & Champions’ because of its rural aspect and the fact that so many top sportsmen and women originally hailed from there, despite a population of 16,000 which is growing fast growing fast.
 
These include rowers like Rob Waddell and twins Georgina and Caroline Mahe Drysdale, ace equestrian Mark Todd (double Olympic gold medallist) and Joelle King (Squash), plus five world-famous thoroughbred horse studs like the Cambridge and Trelawney Studs.
 
It is a move that he has never regretted because he settled in from the outset and at the moment he is enjoying his sporting activity, especially in the world of bowls.
 

We let John tell his own story:

 
“I am still here living in the tourist town of Cambridge, and we are very settled over here. My daughter Debbie (remembers you teaching her) has two businesses The Leamington Barber Shop, which is now seven years old, and the recently-opened Express Colour Bar. Her husband David is a mechanical fitter, involved in the power industry and their daughter Alice (16) is at Cambridge High School, and is into singing and acting.
 
“Our son Paul, wife Yvonne, children Luke and Beth are all still in Haverfordwest, where he
is a community policeman covering Milford, Dale, Broad Haven and similar areas. Yvonne works in administration in the hospital. Luke also works there, and Beth is awaiting her starting date to become a community police woman.
 
“I spend many hours a week in the garden weeding and landscaping,  as we have very large gardens where you could  put two football pitches on it and still have spare land. We do have a ride-on mower, but I always use the hand one for the lawns (fitness reasons) which take up two hours to cut. I also do all the decorating at home and for Debbie’s shops.
 

Huge sporting community

 
“We have many world champions training here, the rowers are always down at Lake Karapiro just three miles out of town, where the World Championships were held in 2010, whilst the cyclists have the new Velodrome just four miles away. We also have a BMX track and polo field a few hundred yards away and although I’m a bit long in the tooth for most of these sports now I enjoy watching them whenever I can, as well as the football, cricket and rugby..
 
“There is also a heated outdoor swimming pool, plus a racetrack for pony trotting and greyhounds, with great affordable bar meals. The town has also many cafes serving great food and a vast selection of coffees, as well as supermarkets and shops.
 
“So all in all a great place to spend one’s retirement!”
 
John’s sporting activity now is green bowling and it has seen him gain plenty of success in the last decade. As he says,
 
“I started bowling here in 2006 with the Leamington Bowls Club and over the next few seasons won six championship tournaments.
 
“They were the mixed pairs in 2010/2011 – the men’s triples in 2006/ 2007 – 2008/ 2009 -  2010/2011 – and the fours in 2008/2009 -  2010/2011.
 
“Sadly the club disbanded (because of falling membership) at the end of the 2012 season so I joined the Cambridge Bowls Club for the 2012/2013 season and enjoyed my short time with the club, winning the championship men’s singles titles in both the 2013/2014 & 2014/2015 seasons, the men’s doubles in 2013/2014 – and the mixed fours in 2013/2014.
 
“Add to this the men’s handicap singles in 2013/2014 – 2014/2015 and the presidents men’s pairs in 2012/2013, and it’s been a great time, bowls-wise.
 
“I also joined the third Cambridge Club (Central Bowls Club) this 2014/2015 season, becoming a member of both clubs and was fortunate to capture the men’s doubles championship in February this year.
“So I am proud of becoming a championship (Honours Board) winner at all of the three Cambridge Bowling Clubs.
 

Still misses the promenade in Neyland – and friends too

 
“But despite the idyllic circumstances I do miss the Neyland sport scene, the promenade walks by the sea, the cafe and marina area and the many family and friends left behind. It is a pretty unique community in Neyland which somehow takes you in its arms and wraps itself around you – and I have been very fortunate to have found another similar home out here in Cambridge, where we would always be delighted to see any Pembrokeshire folk call in if they were over in New Zealand on holiday.
 
“I will never forget my roots and I have been researching my family tree (that is the Mayhews, Inkers, James and Cantons) for several years through various Ancestry sites,
and was delighted to tie up with cousin Emrys in Scotland, as it help us both progress with the Inker line.
 
“Please give my regards to all sportsmen in Pembrokeshire and especially to the Neyland lads who are setting a high standard at cricket, rugby and football which I follow weekly through the PembrokeshireSport.co.uk web site. I was delighted that