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Obituaries |
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ALAN ATKINSON 1948-2013 (LUPTS member 1966-1971)
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Alan Atkinson was an active
participant in LUPTS activities throughout his
student days and beyond. After a short illness, he died on 31 August 2013 at
the age of 65. He was Journal Editor in his first year and was also
instrumental in the production of to LUPTS
publications on industrial locomotives in the late 1960s,
as well as editing the journal on several more occasions. He was Secretary in
his second year, progressing to Chairman in his final year. With the
departure from the University of Liverpool of the original LUPTS President (Allan Patmore) in 1973, Alan took over
in the role and supported the Society in this position until he himself left
the area in 1985. Alan and his wife Jean continued to attend many LUPTS events thereafter, and were permanent fixtures in
the lower saloon of almost every LUPTS bus tour. Alan gave many talks to LUPTS. The database records 22 presentations but there
were certainly more during the period for which minute books have been lost.
His great interest was for his home town of Millom and the Furness Railway
and his acclaimed book Millom: a
Cumberland iron town and its railways (Cumbrian Railways Association,
2012) was published less than a year before he died. He also gave several
talks on railway architecture and was a particular aficionado of the signal
or gable end finial. In retirement, he regularly worked as a Travelling
Ticket Inspector on the Severn Valley Railway, and was a member of Online
Transport Archive, spreading the word about the Archive to groups in the
Midlands, and providing photographs for several OTA books. He was also a
leading light in the Rowley Regis Railway Society and the Hagley Historical
and Field Society. A full obituary is
available for download here. The obituary which appeared in the Severn Valley
Railway magazine is available here. |
KEVIN DONNELLY c1938-c2006
(LUPTS
member 1958/1959)
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Kevin Donnelly played a
vital role at the birth of LUPTS. It was his
conversation with John Ryan, overheard by Martin Jenkins and Chris Bennett,
on 6 November 1958, which led directly to the decision to form the Society.
Kevin was born in Wirral in about 1938 and lived with his parents in
Birkenhead. At University, he worked on Guild
Gazette and attended all the early LUPTS
meetings, being elected the first Society treasurer. He studied Electrical
Engineering from about 1956 onwards, but did not finish his course and left
the University in 1959, going straight into National Service. At one time he
worked in the booking office at Upton station and John Ryan remembers being
invited to have a look behind the scenes there, where they found hordes of
old tickets dating back to the opening of the line in 1896. Kevin left
Merseyside to work for the Railway Signal Company in Chippenham and later
GEC-General Signal at Borehamwood. He attended the LUPTS reunion events in 1998 (Crich) and 2002
(Birkenhead) and is featured on the right of the re-enactment line up with
John, Martin, Chris and Neil Cossons in the Old Union on the occasion of the
latter event (click here). Efforts to track him down for the 2010 event at
Crich revealed the fact that he had died some years earlier (one report has
been received of 2 January 2006) but news had not reached anyone connected to
LUPTS at the time. A memorial service is reported
to have been held at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, which he used to
attend regularly on visits from his home in Elstree. [Elaboration
and/or correction of the above obituary would be appreciated. Please contact
the Webmaster.] |
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PHIL FANNING c1937-c2000
(LUPTS
member 1958-1959)
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Phil on a LUPTS
visit to Speke Airport on 18 June 1959. Note the Cambrian Airways Viscount in
the background. Photo: Anthony Henry |
Philip James
Fanning was born and educated in Liverpool, with his secondary schooling
being at St Francis Xavier’s College. He started at the University in October
1955 in the Department of Electric Power Engineering and graduated with a
BEng degree in 1959. He was a
founder member of LUPTS in 1958 and became an
active member of the society during what was his final student year. His
principal interest in LUPTS was railways and he
participated in many of the site visits made by the society in the early
summer of 1959. He married
Ann shortly after graduation and subsequently spent time working in Hong
Kong. Thanks to LUPTS
member Anthony Henry, who knew Phil personally, for updating the information
originally posted here. [Anthony himself died in 2023, qv.] |
JOHN FORRESTER 1955-2013 (LUPTS member 1973-1976)
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John Forrester died on 26 January 2013 at the age
of 57 after a short illness. He had joined LUPTS in
1973 and, during his student years, was Journal Editor, Photo Comp Secretary
and Chairman for the 1975/1976 academic year. During his time as Chairman,
and ably assisted by Dave Ventry (Secretary) and Jonathan Cadwallader
(Treasurer), LUPTS ran the fourth and final one of
its railtours – The Mancunian, a highly acclaimed
(albeit loss-making) dmu tour of Manchester branch
lines. He spent his entire working career with Standard
Telephones and Cables (and its successors) until taking early retirement in
2005. From 1992 until 2012 he was Chairman of the Electric Railway Society.
Former LUPTS President Jonathan Cadwallader
remembers John for “… his
trademark sideburns; the dry and sometimes cutting, though never malicious,
wit; the occasional bout of absent mindedness; the dedication to the
societies in which he was involved; his prodigious knowledge of railways,
especially electric ones and above all, his companionship.” A longer obituary appears here. |
ALASDAIR GILLIES 1954-2014 (LUPTS member 1972-1975)
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Al Gillies served as LUPTS Treasurer in 1973/1974 and was Chairman the year
after. Born in East London (on the outer reaches of the Central Line) he came
to Liverpool to study law. After graduation he became an insolvency lawyer
ultimately became managing partner of a specialist insurance firm. He was at
one time the Company Secretary of the Watercress Line. After taking early
retirement he supported his wife of many years, Philippa, when she
established a television facilities company in Soho. He died in April 2014
just short of his 60th birthday. Contemporary Andrew Wither
writes: “He had an extensive interest in Railways, particularly the North
American railroads, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the minutiae of modern
US diesel power. His ‘den’ was decorated with some delightful artwork of ‘Chessie’
the cat who featured in C&O publicity from the
Streamline era. Of late his interest in railways had been largely passive,
but he spent some years with the Mid Hants Railway Company where he had a
challenging, if ultimately successful time, negotiating a way through some
difficult Company/ Society internecine rivalry. An avuncular larger-than-life
character he had not been in the best of health for some months, but his
death in April still came as a shock to us all. Al becomes the latest in a
melancholy list of LUPTS stalwarts we have recently
lost before their time.” Thanks
to Philippa Gillies for providing an update to some of the details initially
posted. |
DAVID HALSALL 1946-2013 (LUPTS member 1964-1968)
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David Halsall served as LUPTS chairman for the 1966/1967 academic year.
Originally from Ormskirk and born on 5 October 1946, he studied Geography and
graduated in 1968. He later undertook a PhD which he obtained in 1976 for a
thesis entitled The
Chester and Holyhead Railway and its branches: a geographical perspective. This was a subject
he returned to on many occasions, giving talks to LUPTS
and other societies. The database of meetings lists him on four
occasions between 1965 and 1981, when he spoke on ‘Railway celebrations’. For many years, he was
Specialist in Transport Geography at Edge Hill College of Further Education
(now University), from which he retired in May 2000. Amongst his publications
are Nineteenth-century rail traffic
between Mold and Denbigh (Gee and Sons, 1978), Transport for recreation (editor, 1982) and many scholarly
articles. He was also newsletter editor for the Transport Geography Research
Group until 1998. In retirement, he and his wife moved to the Trowbridge
area. He died on 22 August 2013 after a long illness. |
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Contemporary Ian Holt
remembers him as someone “who took an active interest in LUPTS, with a particular interest in railways, from the
very start of his degree course. He attended meetings very regularly and was
always supportive of the society’s activities and trips. I was Chairman in
1965/66 and he followed me in that position the next academic year, when one
of the very first events his committee picked up from the previous year’s
plans was the memorable “Wirral and Mersey” railtour
of 22/10/1966. David is a sad loss.” |
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ANTHONY HENRY 1937-2023 (LUPTS member 1958/1959)
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Tony
Henry was in his final year when LUPTS was formed,
but had already been active in recording the final years of the trams in his
native Liverpool. He
attended the reunion event in October 2002 and was also at the gathering at
Crich on 4 September 2010 (click here
for report) where he was one of the group photographed aboard 869 for Crich’s
official report (click here for picture). He
died in December 2023 at the age of 86. More
details when available. Right: Tony poses in front of Liverpool
Bogie Streamliner 186 on 4 November 1956, when the last survivors were all
moved to Kirkby for scrapping after the abandonment of the 19 and 44 sets of
routes the previous day. Photo: Anthony
Henry collection |
PHIL JOHNSON 1955-1983 (LUPTS member 1974-1977)
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Phil Johnson was LUPTS secretary during the 1976/1977 academic year. He
was born in Gateshead on 3 September 1955 and started at the University in
1974, studying Civil Engineering. Described by Tom Kane as having a “very dry
Geordie wit”, he maintained his links with the area of his birth. The lounge
of his parents’ lounge in Low Fell was used for accommodation for the LUPTS minibus trip to the north east (15/16 June 1977). He worked
for Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners in Reading after graduation. He was on an
assignment to Botswana and returned to the UK on leave, during which time he
suffered an extremely rare adverse reaction to a yellow fever vaccine
booster, and died in hospital in Slough on 18 January 1983. John Forrester
recalls the decorated haversack in which he carried all his gricing ephemera around and his splendid writing style,
evidenced by an article in a LUPTS Journal entitled
“The Gricing Gourmet”. Tom Kane remembers his
“unique ability to take outstanding photos, without using light metering, but
by consulting a well-thumbed handwritten exposure guide and visual
assessment.” Left: Phil at the Great Central Railway on
15 May 1976. Photo: Jonathan
Cadwallader |
JEROME McWATT
1938-1978 (LUPTS
member 1958-1961)
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[Jerome McWatt
died on 1 March 1978. This is an extract from an obituary by Martin Jenkins
which appeared in Liverpool Corporation Tramways 1937-1957 (part 2),
published by the MTPS in 1980, the obituary having
previously appeared in the MTPS Newsletter.] As a founder member of the Liverpool University
Public Transport Society, Jerome was involved in the initial moves to which
ultimately led to the preservation of 869. As a founder of the Wallasey
Tramcar Preservation Group, he helped to coordinate the plans for the
projected museum at New Brighton. He worked tirelessly for both Groups
believing that the museum could succeed if all the Merseyside enthusiasts
worked together. Over the years, Jerome supplied the MTPS and WTPG with thousands of
photographs and some of his superb prints from old plate-glass negatives
appear in the Horne/Maund ‘Liverpool Transport’ book. Jerome had many other interests including a love
of classical music and opera. He enjoyed exploring other tramways both at
home and abroad but above all he was a true family man. The McWatt household was always a happy one at which everyone
would receive the warmest possible welcome. |
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MARTIN LLEWELLYN c1942-1995
(LUPTS member c1961/1962)
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Martin Llewellyn was LUPTS
secretary for the 1961/1962 academic year. We do not currently have any
further information, but we were advised that he had died in May 1995 when were passing on news of Geoff Smith’s death (see below).
More information is being sought. |
CHRIS MOYES 1949-2006 (LUPTS member 1967-1970)
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Former LUPTS member
Chris Moyes died on 12 September 2006. Chris was a Civil Engineering student
in the late 1960s and an active LUPTS
member, serving for a time as its Secretary, and working during his summer
holidays for Crosville as a conductor. He subsequently obtained an MSc from
Salford University, before being appointed a management trainee with National
Bus Company. Within NBC, he worked for Maidstone and District,
Yorkshire Traction and Lincolnshire Road Car, before being appointed to the
post of commercial manager for Northern General in 1983. That subsequently
led to a management buyout and the company grew into the Stock Market-listed
Go-Ahead Group that we know today. Chris became Chief Executive of the Group
in January 2005. In addition, Chris was Chair of the Council of
Durham University and Chairman of GoSkills, the
Sector Skills council for the bus industry, and also an active bus
preservationist, owning four vehicles of his own, ranging from a 1931 Bedford
WLB to a Routemaster. He was awarded an OBE in the
New Year’s Honours in 2006 and he had been a Deputy Lieutenant of County
Durham since June 2005.
An obituary to Chris appeared in The Times on 18 September 2006 (click here) and the Daily
Telegraph on 14 September 2006 (click here), the latter making specific reference to
Chris’s involvement with LUPTS.
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ALLAN PATMORE 1931-2018 (LUPTS President 1958-1973)
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Allan Patmore, as a young lecturer in the
Geography Department at the University, was appointed President of LUPTS at its formation. He continued in that role until
he obtained a position at Hull University, eventually becoming a Professor.
He has the distinction of being the first person to give a talk at LUPTS – meeting no 2 on 9 December 1958. (Meeting no 1
was the initial meeting on 25 November 1958 to discuss the formation and
scope of the society.) His talk was entitled ‘The Enthusiast’ and featured
what he felt to be three essential qualities for transport enthusiasm
(repeated in a later LUPTS journal): -
avoid
intolerance by recognising that the other fellow’s enthusiasm is just as
valid as one’s own -
avoid
introspection by seeking to widen one’s own areas of interest and, -
avoid
inaction by making positive contributions to the hobby. These became defining features of LUPTS, with many members becoming interested in new
aspects of transport, and making active contributions through the
preservation movement and publications. |
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Allan – Professor J Allan Patmore, CBE, BLitt, MA,
HonDLitt to give him his full designation –
contributed the foreword to the LUPTS history
booklet (link here) published in 1998 and also sent his wishes to
the 50th anniversary celebrations in 2008, although he was too ill to make
the journey across from Humberside. He was the author of many academic books
and papers, and a former Vice Chairman of the Sports Council, for which he
was awarded his CBE in 1993. He died on 21 January 2018 at the age of 87. Allan interviewed prospective Geography student Neil
Cossons for a place at the University in 1958. One of the tasks required Neil
to comment on the Glasgow suburb of Helensburgh from an OS map. “I noted the
grid pattern of the streets … which grew up as a result of the arrival of the
railway. … I then said
the line became part of the North British and then the LNER.
From that moment on we got on very well together! Allan supervised my
undergraduate dissertation and later my MA thesis, both on railway geography.”
Neil attended Allan’s funeral and remembers Allan as
having “…a strong religious conviction - he was a Methodist lay preacher -
and a moral compass that underscored all that he did. For us, we will
remember his interest in and knowledge of railways in all their aspects but,
in particular, his friendship and support, not least for LUPTS
in its formative years.” |
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STEVE SANDERSON 1952-2004 (LUPTS member 1970-1973)
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Steve Sanderson died on 4 July 2004 at the age of
52. He joined LUPTS in 1970, becoming Treasurer for
the 1971/1972 academic year, followed by a stint as Chairman in the year he
graduated. He joined National Bus Company after leaving university and worked
his way up to senior management levels within the organisation. After
privatisation he worked for Traction Group (based on the Yorkshire Traction
subsidiary) and was Commercial Director of Lincolnshire Road Car at the time
of his death. |
GEOFF SMITH 1943-2021 (LUPTS member 1961-1964)
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Geoff served as LUPTS
secretary 1962/1963 and chairman was chairman 1963/1964. After graduation, he
went to work in the steel industry in South Wales where he remained, even
after retirement in 2000. He was subsequently a regular volunteer on the
Seaton Tramway. He died in July 2021 after a short illness. He came to just about all the LUPTS
big reunion events, including the 2002 event in Birkenhead and Liverpool, the
50th anniversary in 2008 (when the picture on the right was taken), the 2010
celebration of the Glasgow tram tour, and most recently the 2018 60th
anniversary event. He was an active contributor to Online Transport
Archive in recent years, undertaking important scanning and cataloguing work.
He helped a lot with the preparation of fundraising volume Transport
Recalled: North and Mid-Wales, which includes a number of his own
pictures, and the book will carry an appropriate dedication when published in
2022. |
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MICK UDEN c1945-c1974
(LUPTS member 1963-1966)
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Mick
Uden started at the University in 1963, reading Chemistry. At the time he was
living in Maidstone but the family later moved to Bromley. He was an active
member in LUPTS, with a number of trips taking
place in his trusty ‘Sit up and beg’ Ford Popular. Particularly memorable was
a Sunday trip to the embryonic Keighley and Worth Valley at Haworth
in about 1965. Ian Holt recalls travelling with Mick and a couple of others
in the car, which did not take kindly to the A6033
Hebden Bridge-Oxenhope road over Cock Hill! He was LUPTS
secretary in his final year, 1965/1966. After graduating, he joined British
Railways on their management training scheme. This took him to a number of
short term appointments, including Fareham. By 1972, he was Assistant Area
Manager at Coventry. It was during this posting that he purchased Wallasey
Leyland PD2 106 (CHF565)
for preservation and it was stored for some time on railway property. He died
suddenly in 1974 (or 1975?) from a long-standing dormant brain condition. [Thanks to Alan Murray-Rust and Ian Holt for help with this obituary.
Please contact the Webmaster if you have anything which
could clarify or correct any of the information given.] |
ROLAND WILLIAMS 1962-2011 (LUPTS member 1981-1984)
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Roly Williams served as
Secretary and Chairman of LUPTS during his time at
the University. During his student days he is probably best remembered for
buying – along with his father Bob and fellow LUPTS
member Alan Roberts – ex-Crosville Bristol SC SSG668
(241SFM), following a chance conversation in the
union bar one night. The vehicle was restored in time for it to be used on a
trip to Chester City Transport (29 February 1984) and on other subsequent
occasions. After graduation Roly went
to work for Eastern Scottish and then Eastern Counties, before returning to
Scotland where he established The Bus Doctors business restoring and
maintaining historic buses. He died on 7 March 2011 at the age of 48 after a
long illness. Former LUPTS President Jonathan
Cadwallader remembers him as “a great friend to all that knew him, a
memorable character full of life whose enthusiasm for things mechanical
spilled over to others.” A longer obituary appears here. The obituary which appeared in the May 2011
edition of Buses can be downloaded
from here. |
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Over the years, LUPTS had many supporters who, although they had never
formally been members, made significant contributions to the Society and
participated in many events. A few of them are remembered here. |
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David
Clark (d 2009):
Former General Manager of Chester City Transport. Through David, several bus
tour buses were hired, including two which were brand new. Gave many talks at
LUPTS over the years. Was the father of 1987/1988 LUPTS Chairman Will Clark. Right: David Clark photographs his company’s
brand new Olympian (10: F210JMB), which had just
sustained a small amount of accident damage on entering the car park of the
Midland Railway Centre at Butterley. Photo: Charles Roberts/Online Transport
Archive |
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Allan
Clayton
(1913-1999): Participated in the LUPTS tram tour in
1960, having inadvertently spent the previous night in a brothel when the
coach dropped him off in an unfamiliar part of town. Returned to LUPTS to give occasional talks. Ted Gahan (1926-2016): Merseyside-based
transport enthusiast who drove the Ribble coach to Glasgow and back in 1960
on the occasion of the LUPTS tram tour. Was the
brother of Jack Gahan (d 2009) who spoke at LUPTS
meetings on a number of occasions. |
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Ted at the
wheel of Ribble Tiger Cub 964 (JRN30) as it heads
for Glasgow with a LUPTS party aboard on 20
February 1960, the day before the tram tour. (The story of the tram tour is
described here.)
Photo: Frank Oldfield/Online Transport
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Ted
subsequently became a teacher and bought West Yorkshire Bedford OB CP1 (FWW596) to take children
on trips. On 15 March 1970, he took the LUPTS party
from Liverpool to Bradford in order to participate in a trolleybus tour. Photo: Alan Murray-Rust/Online Transport
Archive |
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Alf Jacob: Gave many shows of his tram films at
LUPTS meetings over the years.
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Last updated:
17 December 2023
© Charles Roberts/LUPTS 2006-2021