David and I spent most weekends in St Mary Church with Ruth and Jonathan when we were children, before sport and study took over weekends and when life was truly carefree. We were a close family but we saw little of Uncle Richard as he was always working on the farm. Nevertheless he involved us in activities like collecting the hens’ eggs, and I particularly remember him letting us adopt a piglet each to feed with a bottle when their mother was unable to suckle them. We named them March, April, May and December after our birthdays. He was also an audience for our plays, (written and directed by Ruth) and he had a lovely smile and tenor laugh. By example, he taught us to respect the land and seasons, and he shaped our love of spending time outdoors and with farming neighbours, especially at harvest time. In hindsight, they were magical days and he quietly provided the backdrop for our freedom to roam, allowing us to make dens and slides off stacks of straw bales, poke around in the farm buildings, and watch as he fed the squealing pigs with hands over our ears. He had a greater influence on us than perhaps he would have known and we are sending so much love to Ruth and Jonathan at the loss of their proud father – farmer, family man, artist, opera lover and keen observer of wildlife. Rest peacefully, Uncle Richard.
Sarah, David, Pat and Haydn xx
