ONE OF the country's most enduring television sports presenters, Dickie Davies, who died this week, spent part of his childhood growing up on the Isle of Wight — a period of his life he fondly remembered.

Dickie, who died on Sunday, aged 94 — best known as the anchor for popular sports programme World of Sport — moved to Shanklin as a young boy, from London, in 1936.

His mother, Ellen, ran a detached boarding house, 'Collingwood', in Collingwood Road, and he attended Shanklin CE Primary School.

Dickie's father, Owen, spent his time in the merchant navy, at sea, including dangerous convoy missions, during the Second World War.

Isle of Wight County Press: Dickie Davies and Cliff Morgan when they met in Shanklin in 2012.Dickie Davies and Cliff Morgan when they met in Shanklin in 2012. (Image: Contributed)

In 2012, Dickie returned to his former home in Shanklin and visited his old school to share his memories of growing up in the town.  

At Shanklin CE Primary, Dickie chatted with staff and pupils — and found his name in an old school register from the 1930s.

"When I was a pupil at the school in 1939, we used to spend time in the playground and, if we were very lucky, we would be selected to work up at the allotment to look after the plants and vegetables," he said.

"It was a lovely little school."

Isle of Wight County Press: Dickie Davies in Collingwood Road, Shanklin, outside the house he grew up in.Dickie Davies in Collingwood Road, Shanklin, outside the house he grew up in. (Image: Isle of Wight County Press)

Dickie lived a short step from the town centre, from 1937 until early in 1941, when the family moved back to the mainland.

When war broke out, Dickie recalls early Nazi air raids on Shanklin and "diving for cover" with his brother. 

"The people next door told my mother if she was worried about air raids, to come to their house and stay with them," Dickie recalled.

"When the air raid siren went off, we dived through a hole in the hedge into next door's.

"Then when the all-clear would sound, we would all go back home. It was nervy during those times."

Isle of Wight County Press: Dickie Davies, who died on Sunday, aged 94.Dickie Davies, who died on Sunday, aged 94. (Image: PA Wire)

But Dickie loved where he lived, describing that era as "happy days".

Visiting his old home, he added: "It was — and still is — a lovely house. It was the first time I'd ever seen a bathroom, as we previously lived in basements, with outside toilets, so it was lovely.

"My mother turned it into a boarding house in the summer. I used to sleep in the conservatory, or under the kitchen table, to ensure we had enough bedroom space for guests."

While he was visiting Shanklin in 2012, he met up with BBC broadcaster and former rugby star, Cliff Morgan, a Bembridge resident at that time.

They discussed covering the Royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 — Cliff, the head of the BBC's outside broadcasting, and Dickie, working for ITV, as part of a team of 30 journalists on the event.