I was saddened to read of my good friend’s death on 16 December from cancer. Although he had moved to Brighton a couple of years ago to be with his fiancée, I kept in touch with him. I texted him on his seventieth birthday in September, and he telephoned me while he was in Brighton Hospital. In December, he told me that he was still not in the best of health, but the good news was he was marrying his fiancée Helen the following week. I am sure having met Helen myself, that his five years or so since he met her on a walking holiday abroad, were some of the happiest of his life.

Dave was a man of many parts, who in his earlier life was a Venture Scout leader. He told me he had been seriously walking since his teenage years. Later, he became a qualified local football referee and was still involved on the committee of a local league until very recently. He supported Tottenham Hotspur because his namesake was the captain of the club when it won the League and Cup double in 1961 and a Scotsman. He was a keen supporter of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth in the UK. He was on the Royal Borough council as a Liberal Democrat councillor for the Belmont ward from 2003 to 2011. He worked for UK Customs at Heathrow Airport for many years.

Dave was a regular visitor to Tenerife where he often met up with Keith Dunford to go walking there. The photo attached to this obituary was supplied by Keith and is an excellent reminder of two of Dave’s passions, walking and beer! It will come as no surprise to EBR members that Dave was a supporter of the Campaign for Real Ale. I still remember when I tipped off the pub landlord that we were back from a walk and the cook could start preparing our meals. This meant on one occasion Dave had not had his first of two pints (when I was driving us home) when the meals arrived. He was not best pleased.

In summary, despite having health issues throughout most of his adult life, this did not stop him from leading a full life. May he rest in peace.

Malcolm Stone