As a Northumbria member I Know what this man did to help everyone but particularly us up North. He will be sorely missed. Below is the email informing Northumbria members of his death sent by our Chairman, Tony Whitehead. I hope you don’t mind me including it Tony but it sums up Brian’s life much better than I ever could.
Ian Hastie
Dear all,
I have been informed today that Brian Thompson, one of the founder members of the TRF passed away yesterday.
Brian was our Northern Rights of Way contractor and a member of our group, although he had not attended a group meeting for a few years. For those of you who did not know Brian, the was a “traditional” sort of bloke who thought KTM’s and full face helmets were not the sort of image the TRF should have, riding a modern scooter on byways up until last year, or maybe even into this year.
Brian was one of the main people in the TRF for saving so many lanes across the country from as far north as our area, over into Cumbria and down into the Derbyshire peak district. He probably forgot more about rights of way than all of us put together will ever know. Brian was once in the police and when he retired he used his work with the TRF to become a rights of way officer with Northumberland County Council (now would it not be good if Brian were still there?). If you pull out some of your old Trail magazines, including last months, you will find the ramblings of Brian and tales of what used to be able to be ridden.
This is a big loss to the TRF and more so to the Northern TRF groups. Brian’s funeral is on Friday at 1pm Friday 4th, West Road Crematorium, Newcastle Upon Tyne (no flowers - donations to MacMillan Nurses). If you can’t be there, just reflect at 1pm on what a dedicated guy we have lost.
Tony Whitehead
Chairman and Rights of Way Officer
Northumbria Trail Riders Fellowship
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