David "Tetley's" Shakespeare.

[beast66606]

Like several others I read a comment in another thread and my heart sank, surely not, but sadly I found this thread and started to read about the wonderful legacy that "Tetleys" leaves behind.

 

I cannot add anything to the numerous comments above, a very sad time.

 

R.I.P Dave - and condolences to family and friends.

[robertcwp]

Very sad news.  I did not know Dave but his layout sold Model Rail to me from issue one.

[cromptonnut]

I have made this suggestion on the Tetley Mills thread as well. It has been suggested that a collection for cancer charities takes place at RMweb Live. For those of us who will be unable to attend that event how about making such a collection through RMweb or at least provide a link to the charity(s) in Daves name?

 

Something like a Justgiving page would do the job nicely.  Never met or spoke to Dave, online or offline but like many others on here I found his work inspirational.

[Andy Y]

I have made this suggestion on the Tetley Mills thread as well. It has been suggested that a collection for cancer charities takes place at RMweb Live. For those of us who will be unable to attend that event how about making such a collection through RMweb or at least provide a link to the charity(s) in Daves name?

 

Please bear with us on this one until we've spoken to Dave's wife.

[leavesontheline]

This is very sad news. Superb modelling skills aside - the main impression that came across to me in his posts on the Tetley's threads and in a video he did for one of the magazines and linked on here, was that he was just a really nice bloke.

[AJ427]

So saddened by this news. Tetley's just oozed atmosphere and was (and still is) a huge inspiration and one that got me back into the hobby.

Dave, you will be missed.

[chris p bacon]

Something like a Justgiving page would do the job nicely. 

 

But in the spirit of Dave,  surely Justgiving (Money**) is not a Yorkshire trait.

 

 

 

 

 

** but otherwise a most generous man with time, advice and humour.

[great northern]

Please bear with us on this one until we've spoken to Dave's wife.

May I just reinforce that? Andy and I have discussed a number of ideas, and everyone may rest assured that Dave's memory will be preserved in one or more appropriate ways. Julie's wishes will of course be paramount when considering what should be done, and we will discuss everything with her when she feels up to it.

 

I have told her how many responses there have been, both on this and the obituary thread, and how people have spoken both of the shock and sadness his loss has caused, but also of the inspiration he has been to them, both in his modelling and in the way he dealt with the bitter blow that was dealt him. She is very grateful, and found it to be a comfort even in these very early days of grief. She wouldn't be able to come on here and read your tributes at the moment - it would be too much for her- but I know that in time she will do so, and will take comfort and enormous pride from them. In the meantime, many thanks, both on her behalf, and from me personally.

[Mr Brunel]

This is deeply saddening news.

 

Clearly, there's not much I can add to the tributes which have already been posted; I didn't have the privilege of knowing Mr Shakespeare or, indeed, having direct contact with him. However, his superb modelling has had a profound impact on me (just as it has on the hobby as a whole). Seeing "Tetley's Mills" in an early edition of Model Rail magazine, sometime during 2005 or thereabouts, is one of those things that really sticks in my mind.

 

Not only that, but his warmth and good humour - and, of course, his courage - emerged very clearly through his postings. What a sad end to a brave fight.

[Flying Fox 34F]

Dear All,

Only just caught up with this, so I'm stunned at the moment.

I can remember Dave from many years back as a Police Officer and Modeller.

What I never knew and will be my ever lasting regret is that he built Tetley Mills.

I never associated the to! I'd better reread the thread.

My condolences to his wife

Paul 4475

[CUTLER2579]

I regret very much that I have not made it to Dave's funeral through illness ,but I am still thinking of him,Julie his family, and so many friends. I am sure the Lincolnshire Police force will be reprisented by many of his ex -colleagues and friends,as will the Model Railway fraternity, the villagers of Ancaster,but I suspect the local planning department will be fully staffed this morning with them respectfully mourning the passing of a fellow human being although being slightly relieved that he will no longer be submitting planning applications that give them untold work.R.I.P. Dave.

[Andy Y]

Grantham Crematorium was pushed to capacity this morning with a very large turnout for Dave's funeral with around 50 standing in the waiting area and the service held with the doors open and the speakers relaying the service.Gilbert, Ben, Richard, Tony and Mo, Chris and Jane and I were there as friends from within the modelling community and a huge turnout from Dave's friends and colleagues within the Police force in addition to family and friends showing the level of respect and the number of lives Dave came into contact with.

 

Dave's coffin was simply topped with a display of red roses and a Police cap. His boyhood friend, Paul Bowers, led a comprehensive tribute to Dave's life from his early years in Wakefield through to the tributes modellers have posted within this topic showing that your messages of condolence reached those who matter.

 

Donations made at the funeral will be given to Macmillan Cancer Support and Marie Curie Cancer Care but we will create a fundraising page for Cancer Research via justgiving for RMweb readers and modellers to make a donation in memory of Dave and his inspirational work with Julie's blessing - the page for donations and messages can be found at https://www.justgiving.com/TetleysMills/ - chuck in the price of a pint of Tetleys and raise a glass to Dave.

 

We have spoken to Dave's wife, Julie, about ideas to commemorate Dave within the modelling community to which he gave much inspiration. We will create an award 'Shakespeare Spirit' for inspirational modelling and this will be first awarded at RMweb Live in a couple of weeks to a suitable recipient.

 

We also hope to feature and publish in the mag some of the work Dave had already undertaken on Tetleys Mills 3 and Tony has kindly agreed to carry that out In due course we will assist Julie in the disposal of Dave's collection and will be able to offer RMweb readers the opportunity to own a little slice of Yorkshire; this may lead to another lasting legacy of Dave's inspiration but more on that when it's appropriate.

 

Our thanks to Julie for her time today and after being a typical tower of strength today we wish her well for the future as things settle; thank you to Paul (who tried to join RMweb last night to thank you for your support) for the tribute to Dave.

 

And finally....

 

The end of the service featured Eric Idle's finest hour and we had to find space, stretch our arms out to the sides and join in the chorus and whistle....

 

.... so here's your chance to do the same and say goodbye to Dave as he wished us to do.

 

[Andy Y]

Further to the posting above I've now got the JustGiving page sorted - this may be found at https://www.justgiving.com/TetleysMills/

[trisonic]

Thanks, Andy, much appreciated.

“Shakespeare Spirit Award” seems entirely appropriate...

 

Best, Pete.

[PhilJ W]

I tried to make a donation but the buttons to select the card type and the expiry date of the card do not seem to be working.

[Andy Y]

I tried to make a donation but the buttons to select the card type and the expiry date of the card do not seem to be working.

I had a lot of trouble with the forms setting it up but eventually managed on a different PC so I have a suspicion they have some issues with js and forms.

[PhilJ W]

I had a lot of trouble with the firms setting it up but eventually managed on a different PC so I have a suspicion they have some issues with js and forms.

Thanks Andy, I'll try again later.

[Mike Bellamy]

I have been away for a couple of weeks and have only just caught up with this sad news and there is nothing I can add to what has already been said by others who knew Dave better than I did. Being a Grantham lad, I had responded to a couple of his postings and I liked the way he signed many as "XYZ of Ancaster" reflecting his mood or feelings at that time. By coincidence I grew up on Harrowby Road only a few hundred yards from the Cemetery - my elderly parents still live there and I remember the Crematorium being built (1966)!

 

Donation made (Phil I used Paypal)

 

 

Mike

[PhilJ W]

I have been away for a couple of weeks and have only just caught up with this sad news and there is nothing I can add to what has already been said by others who knew Dave better than I did. Being a Grantham lad, I had responded to a couple of his postings and I liked the way he signed many as "XYZ of Ancaster" reflecting his mood or feelings at that time. By coincidence I grew up on Harrowby Road only a few hundred yards from the Cemetery - my elderly parents still live there and I remember the Crematorium being built (1966)!

 

Donation made (Phil I used Paypal)

 

 

Mike

The account I wanted to use is not connected to Paypal. But I can pay by Paypal using a credit card

[PhilJ W]

Paid it using a credit card, if you pay tax don't forget the gift aid. (Though I think that is automatic.)

[Andrew P]

Thanks Andy, Pay pal made things easy,

 

Andy.

[great northern]

Thanks to Andy for giving the details of Dave's funeral and send off. It was of course a sad day, but also a joyful and positive one, as we remembered a kind, generous, supremely talented and incredibly courageous man. I for one shall do as he wished, and always try to look on the bright side of life.

 

At the celebration after the funeral, I happened to be talking to his wife, Julie, when a very old friend of Dave's from Yorkshire presented her with a framed photograph. Very kindly, she offered me a copy, which I gladly accepted, and thought I would share. Here then is the very start of his modelling career - Christmas 1960, when he was 10 years old. Which one is Dave? Well there is a prominent facial characteristic! I shall say no more, as he was always a bit self conscious about it.

 

I have since had the opportunity to talk to Julie, and to find out how she wishes things to be dealt with from now on.She is also a most courageous person, and it was at her instigation that we discussed these details so soon after the event. Here then is what will be happening.

 

Andy has already told you that donations to Cancer research would be welcomed, and many thanks to all who have already donated. The inaugural Shakespeare spirit award will be made at the Coventry show, and that will be an annual event. Julie would also like junior modellers to benefit and be encouraged, so we are thinking of ways in which that could be achieved. Suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Julie has asked me to deal with the disposal of the layout and stock, which of course I shall do, with help already generously offered by Andy and Tony Wright. Julie says that Dave would particularly have liked his models to go to people and places where he knew they would be cherished, so they will be given priority. Thereafter, I am asked to dispose of what remains. Andy and I think that the best and most cost effective way of doing this would be to have a stand at the forthcoming Peterborough exhibition, and possibly at other venues thereafter until all is gone. Why "cost effective"? Well, all proceeds from the disposal are also to go to Cancer Research, so we want to ensure the maximum benefit.

 

The layout really falls into three categories, baseboard, stock and buildings. Quite a lot of the original Tetleys Mills buildings were sold on by Dave himself, but some remain. He took the view that some of those still on the layout were as he put it, "only fit for the bonfire", but of course you may not agree, so they will be offered. I shall make an inventory of the whole thing, and we shall then publish it on RM Web, in order to give those people who just can't get to the places where we shall have sales stands a fair opportunity to acquire items. That of course will be subject to a donation, which will include a realistic sum for postage and packaging. Disposal of baseboards will have to be on a "buyer collects" basis - there is no other economic and practical way of doing it.

 

Dave touched a lot of lives, and had many friends. I don't know all of you, so please feel free to send me a PM if there is anything you would wish me to consider when making decisions as to where things should go.

[69843]

Julie would also like junior modellers to benefit and be encouraged, so we are thinking of ways in which that could be achieved. Suggestions would be appreciated.

In a similar vein to the Shakespere Spirit award, would an award in three (or four) categories (such as building construction, rolling stock construction, layout construction be a good idea, and a category I feel deserves Dave's spirit attached-modelling ingenuity) be a viable prospect for Junior Modellers?

 

As to stock, although I have nearly no hope of obtaining it for myself, the item of stock from Tetleys that I have always admired is the least accurate-Wolf Of Badenoch in BR Green. It was in the back of MR143, after the article mentioning it in MR142, that I first glimpsed a P2 model, having done a basic search online for the class after first reading mention of it in the article. After seeing the picture of the model, I was hooked on the P2s, and I still am. In fact, I've got the issue open here to have another look.

 

I know it wasn't Dave's work (he mentions it was a departed friends who insisted he have it), but what a stunning model.

[bigwordsmith]

Gilbert, just a thought. Dave disposed of his models very successfully through EBAY with a note that they were from Tetleys Mills and let the RMWeb community know he was doing so - could I suggest you do something similar if you're going to list them so that you get the widest possible audience? You could write ups boilerplate that you could paste onto each ad to talk about the heritage, and who knows who else might be kick started by buying one of his items?

 

You would also doubtless get best prices!

 

Peter

[Grafarman]

Gilbert, just a thought. Dave disposed of his models very successfully through EBAY with a note that they were from Tetleys Mills and let the RMWeb community know he was doing so - could I suggest you do something similar if you're going to list them so that you get the widest possible audience? You could write ups boilerplate that you could paste onto each ad to talk about the heritage, and who knows who else might be kick started by buying one of his items?

 

You would also doubtless get best prices!

 

Peter

 

I agree that a good income could probably be made via Ebay; however, I also know of a number of traders who would jump at the chance of acquiring items built by the late Dave Shakespeare only to then sell them on at great profit to themselves benefitting from the provenance.

 

I would go along with Gilbert's suggestion of advertising to RMweb members first to ensure good capital return and respect for the items and their significance; then after an agreed period of time anything left could then be sold on through Ebay or similar.

 

I do hope we won't now get a 'wishlist' of items from Dave's stock, and everyone waits until the list is published before making a considered choice.

 

 

David