We are heart broken to have lost such a true friend as Rob and his memory will always be with us especially when we are out walking on a Wednesday.
Rob's was first and foremost a family man and he cared very deeply for every single member of his extended family keeping us up to date on their latest news on a regular basis. He was clearly very proud of all their abilities and their achievements.
Our regular Wednesday Walks featured high on his list of the important things he enjoyed in life. In fact he enjoyed these so much that he quite frequently repeated one of his sayings:
"Nobody has the right to have this much fun"
or alternatively "Nobody has the right to enjoy themselves this much"
He had a habit of repeating other statements that also became part of the regular banter:
"I'm just having a small bowl of consommée for lunch." This was never actually acted upon!
"I'm a honed athlete."
And when "in the barrel" as he so eloquently put it:
"That's completely destroyed my self confidence. I was just building it up again but that's really knocked me
back."
He was also quite fond of asking if pub staff needed a translator so they could understand Ray's Geordie accent.
Over the years we have completed a few hundred walks and covered a few thousand miles on tracks around Dorset and Hampshire. Sometimes we have had some quite serious discussions. If the country had been run our way there's no doubt it would have been a much better place today. Not that we always agreed of course. On less serious matters the banter flowed freely and it was not always very kind. Outsiders would not have realised that it was never, ever intended to hurt and was always just part of the fun. Rob's occasional protestations that he felt deeply wounded always bought a smile. No doubt the banter will continue but one of the masters of the art will be sorely missed.
So here are a few pictures that record some of the great times we have had together with Rob. Hopefully they give some idea of the fun and enjoyment we have all had on our weekly walks.
Rob's was first and foremost a family man and he cared very deeply for every single member of his extended family keeping us up to date on their latest news on a regular basis. He was clearly very proud of all their abilities and their achievements.
Our regular Wednesday Walks featured high on his list of the important things he enjoyed in life. In fact he enjoyed these so much that he quite frequently repeated one of his sayings:
"Nobody has the right to have this much fun"
or alternatively "Nobody has the right to enjoy themselves this much"
He had a habit of repeating other statements that also became part of the regular banter:
"I'm just having a small bowl of consommée for lunch." This was never actually acted upon!
"I'm a honed athlete."
And when "in the barrel" as he so eloquently put it:
"That's completely destroyed my self confidence. I was just building it up again but that's really knocked me
back."
He was also quite fond of asking if pub staff needed a translator so they could understand Ray's Geordie accent.
Over the years we have completed a few hundred walks and covered a few thousand miles on tracks around Dorset and Hampshire. Sometimes we have had some quite serious discussions. If the country had been run our way there's no doubt it would have been a much better place today. Not that we always agreed of course. On less serious matters the banter flowed freely and it was not always very kind. Outsiders would not have realised that it was never, ever intended to hurt and was always just part of the fun. Rob's occasional protestations that he felt deeply wounded always bought a smile. No doubt the banter will continue but one of the masters of the art will be sorely missed.
So here are a few pictures that record some of the great times we have had together with Rob. Hopefully they give some idea of the fun and enjoyment we have all had on our weekly walks.
I thought this was the earliest picture I had of the Wednesday Walkers taken on 12 October 2005
I later found this one from 18 May 2005 and another one from September 2004 but too unflattering to publish!
Nobody has the right to enjoy themselves this much. May 2010
January 2013
May 2013
July 2015
August 2015
24 August 2016
This is the last picture with Rob taken on 31 August 2016. His last walk was however on 21 September with Clive and Ray.
The following four pictures follow a sequence. We were walking back from Egmont Bight to Kimmeridge Bay when an elderly couple were spotted sitting in the grass some way ahead of us. Ray's imagination got the better of him and he developed a little fantasy about their activities. No I am not going to provide details! Rob found this so funny that he couldn't stay on his feet and he collapsed on the ground rolling around in hysterics. It took him quite a while to even manage to struggle to his knees.
You really can't enjoy yourself much more than that when out for a walk with your mates.
You really can't enjoy yourself much more than that when out for a walk with your mates.
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