I knew Rob when we were at school. He brightened many a dull RE lesson not to mention the fun when Snave, our english teacher, was droning on. I was Helen Johnson back then.
Listening to the radio about the Trump news this morning jolted me - 9th November I knew that date had some previous significance and then it came to me. Rob's birthday and today he would have been 60! I set about finding him on the internet to send good wishes and am horrified by the news I discovered.
Rob was one of the good guys and clearly memorable in that his birthday came back to me after so long. It's good to hear he had a great family and was held in high regard. Maybe nobody will ever read this; it's so out of date but I have good memories of Rob, in particular the day we did a sponsored 10 mile walk from Stone. It was a glorious day and Rob had with him a bottle of Newcastle Brown which he tied to a piece of string and dragged along behind us in the canal to keep it cool. Amazingly, it was well received by the group when he shared it between the group of us on Barlaston Downs banks. Honest, decent, forthright, generous and downright fun.Sunny memories! Rest in Peace Rob. Pity I am 4 years late.
Helen Stodart:
09/11/2016