Category: Persons – Surname beginning with F

Saturday 15th June 2024

A gathering of family and friends took place at the Lakeside Centre, Lake Pleasure Grounds (Town Park), Warminster, on Saturday 15th May 2024, to remember the life of community stalwart Colin French.

Colin’s widow, Jennie, read out the following tribute:

Welcome friends to what really is the final Wobble. And the date of the
previous one in 2019 matched. Symmetry! The family and I have been
on quite a journey and, like everyone in this room, is one that we never saw coming. And it was so quick and shocking and it is why so many had a sense of disbelief.

The family and I want to thank the friends who have been so amazing
over the past few months and who just turned up with food, flowers or sat with Colin. Nadine, Becky, Steph, Val, Nigel, always offering. Priceless. And a big thank you to Belinda from the brilliant Arts Together charity who, without hesitation, offered to help as bar staff.

Initial discomfort soon became serious and Colin and I decided, in
November when his jaundice was apparent, to meet up with Mike
Grenville – a friend known to both of us, either through poetry for me or cycling for Colin – but who was also a Dula or end of life guide. We
wanted to try and understand how this would pan out, what to expect and how do we do this? It was a good grounding conversation where nothing was hidden. When Mike asked about a funeral, Colin said “Well, I don’t want any fuss.”. Well, that’s been firmly ignored!

Time will fade those seven months. It was a cruel and intense illness which Colin bore bravely. Some of you visited as he resided in his hospital bed in our sitting room. It was where he died and gave me and the family, with Mike as a calm presence, a special time to be respectful and reflective, with our own ceremony, thoughtfully done before he travelled off in his bespoke cardboard coffin. It was all done in the right way and it was all done well.

Colin and I lived in Bath for 14 years but in 2004 we moved to Warminster which provided us with a practical town, a station and the lush countryside like the Wylye Valley. It also proved fertile ground for ideas.

The Warminster Wobble ran for 11 years on this same weekend. It
became the biggest cycling event in Wiltshire and there is a second,
updated scrap book to show what a crazy event it was. The core
Wobblers are here: Professor Steve Murtie, the ever reliable Gordon
Davies, Darren Oram who did insane commentaries for competitions, and Bill Fryer.

Colin also saw potential in the field at the end of our road, Yeates
Meadow, a blank canvas with footpaths cutting across. Ten years and 77 trees later, punctuated by wassails and juicing events the Community Orchard looks set to weather the storm of Colin no longer being the central person. There’s an update on the board and next week I have a meeting with key people who wish to maintain this green space. But I want to mention Gordon again because he was always the man, once asked, would say ‘I’ll help you Colin’. What a friend.

And then there were the cycling holidays – all those fantastic rides with friends through many countries. For our own travels, I think we had a total of six vans over the years with me as chief navigator. He loved going off in the van on his own for a few nights with the bike on board. Two years ago we doodled along the Welsh border up to Anglesey and took a month over it. It surpassed our expectations. As I am all too aware of having lost my life companion, doing the travel display brought back many memories of how he advocated travel with a light touch of preparation. ‘Always take twice as much money and half the amount of clothes’ was his mantra – and he was right every time!

Our lives here were made complete when Teilo, Rachel, Ely and Lenny
moved to Warminster, the family wonderfully on the doorstep. Colin loved being Gramps and always had a naughty streak which meant he was available for mischief with the boys.

A couple of weeks ago, a balmy evening, would have been the perfect
time for Colin to say ‘Let’s go out in the van for supper’. Acting on the
thought I called Harriet and we went up to the White Horse in Westbury – took table and chairs – and watched the thermals being enjoyed by paragliders and birds of prey. In essence, what Colin wanted was for people to come and play, whether it was on a bike, enjoying their own gardens or tasting real apple juice. The simple things in life. That’s what we all know about but we trip over modern busy-ness and rarely make the time. This is what Colin has passed on.

And he would have been so embarrassed to read the cards that poured in as news spread. But now Teilo and Rachel would like to read some of the feelings that Colin was unaware of being on the receiving end of.

Monday 8th April 2024

Colin French’s widow, Jenny (nee Gilling) has sent us the following obituary:

Colin French passed away at his home in Warminster on 27th March 2024, aged 75. He had spent many years in Warminster, where he dedicated so much of his own time devising and bringing community projects to fruition.

Born in Fulham, London, on 23rd September 1948, his first experience of working with plants was in Battersea Park and this set one of the themes in his life – he worked in the fruit nursery at Cannington College in Somerset, attended a horticultural course at Radstock College and then returned to Cannington to continue his training.

He then spent time in Wales, where he worked at Plas Y Brenin, near Snowdon, before going afield to a garden on the Isle of Skye.

He had a great love of alpines, which he propagated and sold at markets in Bath and Wells.

It was while living in Bath that another of Colin’s themes really developed – cycling. He had friends who were repairing bicycles for a charity and sending them out to Nicaragua.

Colin cycled across Poland in 1987 and that was one of many future travels on two wheels throughout Europe, either alone or with several friends.

The Bristol to Bath cycle route established by Sustrans was much used by Colin, and he became a warden for the Warminster Route 24 cycleway.

It was in 2004 that he moved to Warminster with his then partner Jennie Gilling, a fellow gardener who is a cyanotype artist and an occasional papermaker. Colin continued to design and build several private gardens both local to the Warminster area and back in Bath.

In his spare time he cycled in the Wylye Valley and up on to the Great Ridge Wood. Colin and Jennie would put bikes in their camper van and head off to explore Dorset and also Wales. Colin had the skills to build a bike and anyone could call on him to fix a problem. He was really happy helping people to “get on their bikes”.

It was in a pub, writing on the back of an envelope, while enjoying a pint, that the germination of a weekend cycling festival was born, and in 2009 the first Warminster Wobble took place in the Lake Pleasure Grounds – a quirky event comprising bike-related activities in the park on a Saturday, with a variety of rides out for all ages on the Sunday. The Warminster Wobble continued for 11 years. These weekends included Colin introducing cycle stunt teams who wowed the Warminster audience of locals and visitors.

Based on his horticultural background, the next project to take off, thanks to Colin, was at Yeates Field (the National Trust owned meadow) adjacent Boreham Road, not far from Colin and Jennie’s home at St. John’s Road. In 2013 the meadow was enhanced by the planting of an orchard. Within ten years, more than 70 special Wiltshire varieties including Bramleys and Red Love apples, along with pear trees and two cherries planted for the Queen have become established. The meadow and its orchard is now a green space to be enjoyed by everyone.

A social aspect of the Warminster Community Orchard, as it is now known, has been the annual juicing day, which often involved Colin collecting fruit from gardens to bulk out the orchard’s crop. Colin wanted people to experience what fresh apple juice really tasted like.

Another feature has been the traditional winter wassail, held every January, blessing the trees for a productive year. At the 2024 wassail the assembled wassailers raised their glasses of cider to Colin, who at that time, was ill and unable to come along.

After living together for 30 years Colin (aged 74) and Jennie (67) tied the knot at Trowbridge Registry Office at County Hall, on Valentine’s Day (14th February), 2023. They had met while maintaining private gardens in Bath, where they lived for 15 years. They opted for a civil partnership which they said fitted their simple outlook perfectly, and were pleased that the sun shone on the romantic day.

Five years ago, Colin’s son Tello moved with his young family to Warminster, and Colin was able to enjoy being “gramps” with his grandsons and together they all became involved with various events.

But Colin had one more project to make happen. Having failed before Covid to find a suitable venue for a community shed, an opportunity arose in 2023 thanks to the Warminster Action Group who are based at Wilson And Kennard’s Yard, on the south side of the Market Place, Warminster. Part of their premises were offered for use as a community shed and Colin championed this.

In the summer months of 2023 Colin found the energy to source and collect any number of tools and fittings to equip the shed. With a team of helpers a room was transformed into an impressive space where people can meet and make projects happen while the kettle is on and tea brewing. It is sad that Colin did not live long enough to see for himself the finished workshop being fully used as intended.

The one thing that many people mention in relation to Colin was his sense of community. Here are some quotes by people who knew him:

“He was a force for good.”

“A man so full of life, full of projects, doing the right thing and living the right way.”

“A man of the soil, with a gift for creating beautiful places.”

Colin is survived by his wife Jennie, his son Tello, his daughter-in-law Rachel, and grandsons Ely and Lenny French.

Some events are to be organised by Colin’s family to celebrate his life. Anyone wishing to attend these is asked to get in touch with Jennie by emailing jenpapers@blueyonder.co.uk (please mention your connection with Colin when you email).

Colin John French passed away at his home in Warminster on Wednesday 27th March 2024 after a difficult illness. He was educated at Wandsworth Comprehensive School and studied at the Welsh College of Horticulture, Coleg Garddwriaeth, Cymru, and Cannington College, Bridgwater . He was one of the founders and an organiser of the Warminster Wobble Festival of Cycling for its duration of 10 years; the mastermind of the Warminster Community Orchard at Yeates Meadow, Boreham Road, Warminster; the initiator of the Warminster Community Workshop; and an active member of Sustainable Warminster; and more. Much loved by all his family: Jennie, Teilo, Rachel, and grandsons Ely and Lenny. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. A lovely man who did many things for Warminster. A private service for Colin has taken place but a celebration of his life will be arranged for later in 2024. Donations in Colin’s memory, if desired, can be made to Dorothy House.

13th August 2023

From the Facebook page of Warminster Police:

The family of a woman who sadly died following a road traffic collision on the A36, near Upton Scudamore, on Friday have issued the following heartfelt tribute.

Yvonne Faulkner was a much loved grandmother and mother who enjoyed life and was looking forward to her next holiday in September cruising around Iceland. She was loving, kind and fiercely loyal to her family and friends.

Her grandchildren were a tremendous source of pride to her and she enjoyed every one of their achievements.

Her grandson Joe said: “She was a great nan and always supported me. I will always remember her and try to make her proud.”

Her son Andrew echoed these words and said: “To lose my mother like this is such a shock but I will hold on to the many great memories I have of her and her sheer determination to enjoy life and the love she showed her family.”

Our thoughts are with Yvonne’s family as they come to terms with their loss and we ask that their privacy is respected.