Derek Tomson - (born 27 April 1927, died 16 February 2020, aged 92 years)
Click Photo for Closeup
We mourn the loss of a member who served Bury Ramblers in several ways over many years.
Derek was a walk leader and a strong one too, taking the group on 16 miles around Hayfield in June 1990, although he would have been leading many walks before then.
Not far away the Manifold Valley was one of his favourite areas. Other favourites included Downham, Slaidburn, Dunsop Bridge and Scorton for a climb up Nickey Nook to look eastwards over the Forest of Bowland or westwards over Lancashire’s coastal plain and, if the day was clear enough, to the Isle of Man and the Great Orme.
Many of the Group’s early coach trips were organised by Derek. An old programme has him leading a dry land walk at Arnside while Queen’s Guide Cedric Robinson was taking the other trippers on to the sands of Morecambe Bay. On the return the party experienced a bit of unexpected excitement. In those days we used Pearson's coaches which were cheap and cheerful. The coach in question was returning along the Edenfield bypass (nobody calls it that now do they?) when a motorist on the opposite carriageway noticed a small fire underneath the coach, of which the occupants were blissfully unaware. The motorist went straight to Rawtenstall fire station and alerted the brigade. The result was an engine overtaking the coach, flagging it down and extinguishing the (small) fire - the stuff of legend.
Derek was unfailingly courteous: he attended every AGM where he was diligent in standing up to thank the committee for all their hard work. He himself supported the Group socially and his very last Bury Ramblers outing was to the Christmas lunch at the Church Inn Birtle on 8th December. He drove home from there, only to be felled by a severe stroke.
Bury HF and Bolton CHA were privileged to have Derek as a member, too. But he was also happy walking on his own. One of his favourite routes, which he undertook several times a year, was from Lytham St Annes to Blackpool by way of promenade and beach and the odd cafe.
Another route he held dear was from the car park at Anglezarke Reservoir to White Coppice where, if he got his timing right, he would buy his lunch from the Pavilion and watch the cricket. As a young man he was a league cricketer, first with Lower Broughton (where his father played) and then Cheetham Hill. He was an opening batsman, dour and difficult to dismiss. He also played tennis and badminton.
And then there were Alpine Overland holidays: his regular German lessons would have enabled him confidently to place his order for Apfelstrudel mit Sahne, to which he was very partial.
Derek went more than thirty times to Plas Tan y Bwlch, a big house run by the Snowdonia National Park Authority near Portmadog – yes, he was certainly a creature of habit. A few days walking the old drovers’ roads particularly appealed to him, as did the bread and butter pudding.
In more recent times he went with Robinsons to Shanklin on the Isle of Wight and stayed for a week in the same room in the same hotel, there to do his own thing, mainly walking of course. He went there last November and on his return said he couldn’t wait to go back again, indeed he may have booked already before his stroke.
Apart from walking Derek was very keen on Gilbert & Sullivan and spent happy hours at Buxton Opera House. And he went to ballroom dancing lessons. And he went to evening classes to learn public speaking. Derek had many interests.
He never had a television but was a regular listener to Brain of Britain and to Desert Island Discs. The first disc he chose was a piece that reminded him of happy sea-side holidays with his parents - The Donkey Serenade.
There is a lovely picture of a broadly smiling Derek on the Bury Ramblers web site.
We will miss Derek Tomson.