He was a very earthy sort of chap, David. He actually shared my surname, though we weren't related, so there's a clue. He was a big mate of Roy Lancaster, another great bloke who started out working in the park next to my school in Bolton. On one occasion by the canal in Radcliffe. when I was but a callow and youthful botanist, he espied me looking up a plant in an identification guide. "What are you doing?" he demanded. "Er, just looking this up...." "Well chuck bloody book away. You'll never learn owt from a book!"

He was right!