A Life Remembered
   
Alan was born in Ford Street, Swindon during the Second World War on the 26th July 1943. He lived with his mother, 3 older sisters and brother, when he finished school he started work as an apprentice in the local railway offices. Life as a child was hard for Alan and his family, with his mother having to move them in with his sister Pam’s family when he was still a small child, Alan found it fun though and formed a bond with his nieces and nephew that was still very strong to the day he passed away. He was always described as a ‘small and weedy’ child who was excused lessons from school in the afternoons so he could rest, because of this a determination formed in Alan that would grow, if he was told he wasn’t able to do something he had to prove everyone wrong. It therefore came as some surprise to his family when he decided to join the Royal Marines in 1961; he served for 3 years in 45 Commando in Brunei (Borneo), Sarawak and Aden (Yemen) and was medically discharged in 1964 following a combat injury.  He was always very proud of the fact that he was passed as medically unfit for the Marines in the morning but by the afternoon he was classed as fit to join the Wiltshire police force,
 
In July 1964 one of Alan’s greatest stories was formed when he went to London with one of his Marine colleagues to celebrate his 21st birthday. Whilst touring the clubs they fell upon a party attended by the Rolling Stones celebrating also Mick Jagger’s 21st Birthday!!The story is born! He has many tales of that night including the fact that these two Marines looked so out of place amongst the wild trends of the 60’s.
 
As a well-respected Police Officer of 30 years having joined in 1964 Alan saw service across much of Wiltshire. He served in many different roles within Wiltshire Police but was probably most proud of the time he spent as a detective in CID including a stint with The South West Regional Crime Squad investigating serious and organised crime. He often spoke of his finest hour being after the conclusion of a job a complainant describing a ‘Castro like figure smoking a big cigar striding through the village’! In reality it was just Wally with a Cigarillo!!  He would often relish in the complaints about him more than the commendations he received!! Throughout his time as a Police Officer Alan was known for his sense of fairness and no nonsense attitude which was well respected throughout Devizes, where he had lived since the 1970’s.
 
In 1970 Alan became a father for the first time to Richard.  After a couple of years Richard moved to Wales with his mum but Alan kept in touch taking him on days out and later on having him to stay and help us out on the farm, even though over the years Alan and Richard didn’t see each other as often as they would have liked they formed a strong bond which was later reinforced when Richard made him a Grandad for the first time in the 90’s when Megan was born.
 
I met Alan in the early 70’s at the Bear Hotel in Devizes where Wally, Hawkesie and Mason were always there protecting the public in their official capacity of course!!! On the 1st March 1975 which was an absolutely beautiful Spring day we married, I learnt afterwards that there was some sort of wager as to whether I would turn up and if it would actually last, well I did turn up and here we are nearly 46 years, 3 children, Iain, Elaine, Amy and 5 grandchildren later!!
 
We moved onto the farm where we would spend the next 45 years building our home and bringing up our children, living the ‘good life’ of almost self-sufficiency. However in 1994 when he retired I sadly lost my vegetable garden to a swimming pool which he’d always dreamt of having!!!  He loved our home and the welcoming feel it offered to everyone who came to it, there was always a good excuse to have a party and for those who knew him well he would always put 100% effort in to everyone, dressing up as Henry XVIII  and Captain Birdseye to name a couple. He was always up for having a bit of fun and causing mischief and was often found stirring the pot relishing in the mayhem caused!
 
He was involved in the local community, belonging to the Devizes Lions Club for several years working with local charities. He also enjoyed being a member of his father in laws Skittles team for many years, we have the trophies in the cupboard!!
 
Following his retirement, he joined me in my events business where he loved to help people design their events and it gave him an opportunity to explore his artistic side and design some truly weird and wonderful creations, a favourite of which was a five foot tall caterpillar on a toadstool for an Alice in Wonderland themed party which he finished off with several pairs of neon socks!! Alan enjoyed meeting people and those he met soon discovered he loved to tell a story whether it was the Mick Jagger connection, police operations that didn’t quite go to plan or the Saxon hillfort and WW2 aircraft he believed were buried at our home, there was always something there to entertain those who would listen.
 
His true passion however was his family. The Police Force did not lend itself kindly to being able to spend a lot of time with us, however the children do have good memories of rough and tumble play when they were small, being taken to the Oasis swimming, holidays in France and Spain and of course spending time helping us do jobs around the farm. He was immensely proud of all his children and their achievements all of them having taken different paths and very different roles in life. Alan was not the easiest person to live with, both of us having very strong views but when the chips were down he would always be there unconditionally with help and support for all of us.
 
His grandchildren he absolutely adored and loved to see them whenever he could. He has been very proud of all of their achievements too from Megan and her graduation and the path she is following through to the younger ones, George, Toby and Amelia with their school and sporting achievements, Seth with his building skills and just being affectionate grandchildren with the youngest Nina nicknaming Grandad ‘Grumpy’ for as anyone who knew Alan well would have known that he loved a good moan!!!
 
It was a feature of Alan’s character that he would have found it hard to understand the positive impact he had on so many of the people he encountered in his life, both those close to him, those he only met once and even some of those who have encountered him from the wrong side of the law. He will be missed by many people especially his family, his friends and Me.