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November 2018 November 2018

THANK YOU FROM JON OBITUARIES

Jon Cleave would like to thank all the individuals and
groups in the Parish, who contributed to Cancer Tribute to Nigel Woodward
Research UK in support of his ‘Cycle 300’ through France Given by Tim Woodward at his funeral
in September.
At Bere Regis Church on 7 September 2018
th
At the time of writing £3,980 has been sent off to Cancer
Research. Gift Aid should add £720 to that. Contributions My father was 5 years old when World War Two started and remembers seeing
yet to arrive are expected to take the final total over Spitfires chasing German aircraft in the sky above their house in Somerset. For a
£4,000. period of time they lived with their cousin, who was the Bishop of Bristol. One
night as the bombs started to fall, they were hurried into the cellar of the house,
Whilst Jon turned the pedals, Elaine, Adrian, and Dominic Bishop were the fund- which acted as the air raid shelter. When they crept out of the cellar after the
raising team in the village, and Mrs. C cooked the calories. raid had finished, much of the Bishops Palace above them had been flattened.
The C – Team! My father followed in the footsteps of his father and elder sister Jennifer, and
loved horses from an early age, and we have many pictures of them on
365 miles were cycled and 21,000 feet of altitude horseback, having hacked out to hunt with both the Berkley, and the Duke of
were gained – enough to ride from Bere Regis Fire Beaufort hunts. He loved and adored horses, and his memoirs are full of
Station to the Lake District, then climb Scafell Pike references to those he owned, hunted, raced, jumped, evented, and played
7 times. All the shallots were returned to Elaine polo on – all with comments about how they behaved and how they rode.
completely uninjured!
After attending Clayesmore School in Dorset, he briefly joined the family firm of
Robinsons in Bristol, before reporting for national service in 1952. He attended
Eaton Hall Officer Cadet School, and on completion was posted to serve in
Malaya to fight the Communist Terrorists in the jungle there. He served with the
Malay Regiment, and as he was often the only English person in his company
he became very Malay orientated, eating their food, dressing in their uniform
and speaking fluent Malay. Whilst in Malaya he decided the military life was for
him, and joined the Royal Hampshire Regiment as a regular soldier. He
remained with the Tigers for the next 31 years during which time he and my
mother moved 24 times. His memoirs highlight a couple of postings that he
particularly loved, and it will not surprise you, that they both heavily involved
horses.
The first was Jamaica where he was posted in 1960 with the regiment, and
where he had a lovely time building stables playing a lot of polo and racing at
local events. His CO however felt he was enjoying
himself far too much, and after 6 months he was sent
to a company outpost in British Honduras. Here with his
usual determination on all matters’ equine, he quietly
rebuilt his stable of horses and took to competing at
local racetracks.
It was whilst in British Honduras now known as Belize
that he was seconded to the Governor General. He
was therefore at Government House when Hurricane

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