A True Northumbrian

Robert Parker

A man who didn't see the need to travel, didn't drive a car preferring to walk. Had never used a telephone, didn’t like them. He was though, very well informed having valid opinions on every topical issue of the day.
A shepherd who knew what a real winter was, feeding sheep and lambs in deep snow drifts, who walked his stock every day irrespective of the weather, who as a very young man lodging with an employer in the extremes of the North Tyne Valley had to cover his bed with a mat from the floor to keep the warmth in and the rain out that leaked onto his bed through the loose roof tiles.
He ate crowdie for breakfast every day of his life but not because he ever drank whisky, he wouldn't eat anything spicier than a Christmas cake.
He enjoyed a rural joke seeing the funny side of life when it appeared.
He lived to 89 and was cremated today.