Obituary.

HUBERT BOTT 1930-2009 by his daughter, Sandra Towers

Dad was born in Long Buckby and came to work in Ravensthorpe in 1955 when he took over running the Co-op in Chequers Lane. After his marriage to Eve in March 1956 they came to live in the Co-op house opposite the pub. They moved to East Haddon Road in1964.

Hubert took part in many aspects of village life. In the early days he played cricket. Later he ferried the teenage lads to Northampton to play in a five-aside league. He served on the Playing Field’s Committee and was involved in the village festivals in the early 1970’s.

His job took him mainly to London, but he had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the UK road system and was often called upon to be an airport taxi or to be Ravensthorpe’s early version of satnav.

As he neared retirement age he helped found the bowls club and became chairman and booking secretary of the Village Hall.

He gave up these jobs in 2004 after suffering a stroke. The stroke left him with a speech problem and he went out less and less, content to be in the garden in summer and watch his favourite TV programmes in winter.

His health had deteriorated over the last year but he was only very poorly for five days. We managed to fulfil his wish and he was at home with Mum and I when he died on March 17th – their wedding anniversary.