6.9.46 - 12.01.09

Brian was born in 1946 in Ewell, Surrey and after attending Lynton and Kingswood House schools went to Epsom College, where two of his closest friends were Keith Burgess and Geoff Stevens, who eventually introduced him to what was to become one of the main interests of his life – bellringing.

After leaving the college, Brian chose accountancy as a career, following in the footsteps of his father. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant at the very young age of 21 after joining a firm of chartered accountants as an Articled Clerk. His first post-qualification job was with a shipping company in Bermuda. Two years later he moved on again, this time to become Chief Accountant in a Debt Factoring Company. During the seventies and eighties he worked as Chief Accountant for a number of companies mainly concerned with shipping before a short spell (of two years) as a self-employed consultant. He then joined Canada Maritime Services (for whom he had been acting as a consultant), this time as Group Accountant. His final move (in 1992) was to London and Associated Properties PLC, where he was Chief Accountant. Brian became a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1968 and a Fellow of the Institute in 1979.

My friendship with Brian dates back over 40 years to 1965 when, following persuasion from Keith and Geoff, he came to St Martin’s, Epsom and I taught him to ring. He joined a very lively band of ringers in their late ‘teens, early twenties and rapidly became a competent member of a band that normally managed to ring all ten bells at St Martin’s every Sunday, to methods such as Grandsire, Bob Royal and Stedman, although we never quite managed Cambridge Royal. According to Keith, one of the main motivators to ringing was payment for weddings and they rang for these at a number of churches, with Banstead (Surrey) being one of the best payers. Brian was a very social person and this was a very social band; the "Barley Mow", in Epsom, became very much a ringers pub, and one could drop in on almost any night of the week to find ringers from St Martin’s or Christchurch (the other tower with bells in Epsom) playing darts or chatting, sometimes long after closing time in the road outside. Outings to ring bells in other churches were also a favourite occupation – some that I remember vividly were in Kent on Easter Mondays, when the Kent Association of Ringers held their open days. There were always four routes in to the centre (from each point of the compass) with church bells available to be rung for a pre-arranged time and it was good sport to visit towers on two routes which involved some fast "rally driving" at the start of the day although things got easier as time went on. I’m not sure which Brian enjoyed more, the ringing or the driving. Brian did not ring many peals (32 in total) his last peal being at St Martin’s in March 2005, in memory of another long-standing member of the band, Martyn Harbott.

Another member of the band at that time was Alyson Dyer, and she and Brian soon became a pair. Brian, who was rarely stuck for a reply, at that time had a Wolseley Hornet (a mini in all but name). When being twitted about the restrictions of the back seat for courting purposes, back came the reply "there’s no problem, you put your feet out through the back window". Alyson and Brian married at St Martin’s in 1968 and two weeks later emigrated to Bermuda, where their children Sean and Catherine were born. They stayed there for two years before returning to this country. There were no bells in Bermuda but, on their return, Brian was back in the tower within days!

In 1972 Brian took over the captaincy at St Martin’s from Simon Mortimore (who had taken over from me) and continued to "look after" the ringing and the band there until 1988 when he handed over to Mike Bale, the present Tower Captain. Brian believed in putting back into a hobby what you get out of it and supported the local ringing organisation, serving as Treasurer 1971 - 73, Secretary 72 - 73 and District Auditor from 1986 to 1991. In 1976 he also joined one of the two premier London ringing societies, the Cumberlands. As a member of the other, the College Youths, I would consider this to be one of his few mistakes, but it was probably because the Cumberlands allowed lady members.

Hand in hand with his devotion to bellringing went his love of real ale so naturally, when CAMRA was formed in the 1970s, he became one of its most enthusiastic supporters, putting together one of the largest collections of Real Ale labels at the time. Another interest was music, and he liked both classical music and (traditional) jazz, Chris Barber being a particular favourite. He also played the piano. His father worked for a company sponsoring a box at the Festival Hall and he attended many concerts there with school friends, often to hear the London Mozart Players. His favourite composer was Beethoven.

Brian’s marriage to Alyson ended in 1991 and later that year he met Sue, as befitted a CAMRA supporter, after a New Zealand – England rugby match (England had lost as usual!). They were married in 1995, living in Hassocks, where Brian once again became involved with ringing and also took on the interesting (and often frustrating) job of Churchwarden, serving throughout an interregnum, which devolves considerably more work and responsibility on a churchwarden. Through Brian, Sue was able to trace, and meet, her two sisters who had been adopted.

Brian loved travel and introduced it to Sue, who had never done any before. There were many trips to the continent with Venice (from their honeymoon on) being a favourite location, others were the Channel Islands, Scotland and the Cotswolds – particularly at snowdrop time. Brian also had a particular affection for Antwerp, where he had once worked – visiting there on a number of occasions.

In 2005 came a body blow, when not only he, but also Sean and Catherine, were diagnosed with the same form of cancer, and this brought them more closely together. Catherine has told me that she and Brian spent many hours discussing treatments, hospitals etc. It is said that the right mental attitude is a great help, and Brian certainly had that. One of his first actions was to buy a flashy sports car, a bright yellow Mercedes – the "Yellow Peril", (Catherine bought a Lotus and Sean an S type Jaguar!). There were many informative emails about progress. Meetings for curries and at other ringing events still showed the same irrepressible Brian – only the hair had gone at a faster rate than before, but the interest in what was going on, and the jokes, continued unabated. Brian was determined not to let his illness affect his life; he continued to work, from home when treatments left him too tired to go in. His company (London Associated Property) supported him through thick and thin. The support of Michael and John Heller, Chairman and Chief Executive, and all the staff, meant a great deal to both Brian and Sue.

I can remember a heavy bell outing to Wells, in Somerset, to which Brian came (and rang) even though he had only left hospital the day before. As late as December, he managed to ring at St Martin’s for the carol concert organised by Alyson, who is Director of Music there.

Brian always kept in touch with his friends and many of them were present at his funeral service – to remember, to celebrate, and to give thanks for Brian’s life. All of us will have different memories. Mine are of an irrepressible character, caring, competent at both his ringing and his job; devoted to his later family and on good terms with his earlier one (not an easy thing to achieve); and at the end, having immense courage. Above all, someone who was always good for a laugh and fun to be with.

John Davidge