John Forster


John Forster

It is with great sadness that we have to report that John passed away on Sunday 26th January following a lengthy illness which was sadly, it seems, possibly made worse by the death of his wife and soulmate Shirley from whose loss he never really recovered.

John was very well known to many LDWA members as both he and Shirley were actively involved in several groups including Cleveland, East Yorkshire and Vermuyden. He competed in, or organised checkpoints on, many popular challenge events such as Scarborough Rock, Rudolph's Romp, Smuggler's Trod, Wheeldale Tandem, Bog Dodgers and the Elsecar Skelter to name but a few. Anyone who competed in the old Cleveland Classic event will long remember the wonderful checkpoint that John and Shirley helped to run at Botton Village! The measure of the man can be gauged by the fact that his declared favourite challenge event was the infamous Fellsman! John also both instigated and organised the Shirley's Smiles event in memory of his wife Shirley and donated all the profit from the event to Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice.

In addition to his LDWA eventing achievements John, in his earlier years, was an accomplished marathon runner and completed many running events including the New York Marathon which he said was his all time favourite.

John also had many other hobbies and interests one of which was the history of transport systems in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire, a subject on which he was very knowledgable. He was also very interested and involved with railway modelling and owned a vey extensive layout which included a scale section of the old Hull Docks. His working life which was involved with the shipping industry gave him a very good depth of knowledge on the Port of Hull.

John's interest in local sport made him an avid supporter and season ticket holder of Hull FC and also a supporter of both of the Hull Rugby League teams.

John managed to combine being both a great guy and a true gentleman and he will be much missed by all of the many friends that he made over the years, both in and out of the walking fraternity.

 Our thoughts and condolences go to John's family.