John Watson
     
 

WE SAY GOODBYE TO JOHN WATSON

 

John Watson first became a member of our society in the early 80's, joining Nora who was one of the early members. Although not a collector of any particular minerals or fossils, he always showed great interest in what was going on and what other members had collected. He was a great support to Nora and was always a willing helper at club events. At our gem shows he was always one of the first to turn up to marshal the cars while the stallholders were unloading their goodies. At the Dickens Festival events he could always be relied upon to be one of the first to arrive to help set up the club stand, which in the early days, was hard work as the framework was constructed from builders scaffold poles supplied by John Best. For several years Harry and I had some great weeklong field trips with John and Nora along with Doug and Emma going to Cumbria , Cornwall , Scotland and our yearly trip to the Gem Show in Antwerp . He was always very supportive and was willing to help in any situation.On one particular trip to Scotland we booked a farm cottage with John and Nora.Arriving at the farm to check in we were told that the cottage was right on the top of the neighbouring hill with a wood shed at the back about half a mile up a very muddy track. On arrival we found it to be very old and damp. The following morning at first light we were awakened with the smell of smoke filling the cottage and a lot of banging. John, the first to arise had tried to light the fire but the wood was wet and he was out in the wood shed chopping up some more logs. Eventually he got the fire going and that became his job for the week which kept us warm and dry.John had a great sense of humour. On one trip we had found a hotel in some remote place where the food was particularly good and the bar was well stocked with John's favourite tipple. Buying the first round we found that the barman badly stuttered. When it came time for seconds John came to the bar with us and just as the barmen started to pour his whiskey he asked the barman a question which got him stuttering and shaking his hand. Back at our table he said “Well I got a double out of him didn't I”John was great fun to be with and we shall all miss cheerful personality.

 

Joyce Day