Grahame Hitchen, 'bgman'

[Captain Kernow]

I sorry to have to report that Grahame Hitchen, aka 'bgman' on RMWeb, passed away last night.

 

Those of us who knew Grahame were very shocked by his sudden admission to hospital on 10th January, with unexpected heart problems. He was transferred the same night by 'blue light' ambulance from the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital to the Bristol Heart Institute for emergency open heart surgery. Complications followed and yet after a few days he seemed to be rallying, despite having been back to the operating theatre for a second procedure just over a week after his initial operation.

 

As soon as he was able, Grahame asked his daughter to arrange for his friends on RMWeb to be informed, which is when I started a thread in 'Wheeltappers' to let everyone know.

 

I was fortunate enough to be able to speak to Grahame a couple of times while he was in hospital. One the first occasion, he was clearly very tired and a little confused but on the second occasion a few days later, he seemed much more coherent and the prospects were looking much better.

 

Unfortunately Grahame suffered two massive strokes in quick succession a couple of days later on Thursday afternoon 27th January and passed away a short time after that.

 

Grahame was a very experienced modeller of long standing and modelled in a number of scales with great skill, including 3.5mm, 4mm and latterly 7mm. He was also a very kind and attentive friend and freely offered the benefit of his modelling experience (and that of life itself) to anyone who needed assistance.

 

In recent years Grahame lived and worked in Devon (prior to retirement a few years ago) and was a member of the Mid-Devon Finescale Group, where I first met him about 15 years ago, although I also got to know him via RMWeb and the Taunton Members days at around the same time.

 

It is very hard to get my mind around the fact that he's no longer around.

 

Grahame leaves a son and daughter and two grandsons.

 

I hope folk will add their memories of Grahame on this thread.

 

Rest In Peace, my friend.

 

[AY Mod]

Such sad news and my thoughts are with Grahame's family and closest friends, the last weeks must have been awful. It's evident Grahame entertained and earned the respect of many through his modelling and his humour. We spent too much time gassing and laughing together outside Staplegrove village hall. I'll certainly miss him when I'm next down.

 

Thank you to Tim for shouldering the work of keeping everyone here up to date, a hard job today but you were the right man for it.

 

RIP Grahame.

[micklner]

Very sad news .

[Oldddudders]

Hideous news. Graham was a bright, amusing man who made great models. Some of us fall short on several of those qualities. 

[Oldddudders]

5 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 We spent too much time gassing and laughing together outside Staplegrove village hall. I'll certainly miss him when I'm next down.

That's where I met him - the nicotinis having a quiet moment of laughter at Taunton. Very sad loss to us all. 

[MrWolf]

That's just awful. From what little I knew of him he was an outgoing energetic type who put so much enthusiasm into everything he did. He will be very much missed.

[Re6/6]

I shall miss him dreadfully. He was a good friend and a very fine modeller. I was so energised about his latest foray into Italian modelling. I loved his new 'Venetian' bridge that he'd started on his thread.

 

He did some marvellous resin casting for me, a new skill for him which he mastered very quickly and amazingly he said that he could do better and produced something with 3-D printing. An amazing chap.

 

KBO old thing, you'll really be missed.

 

 

[teaky]

Such sad news.  Grahame was an all round top bloke.  Great modeller and always ready but never pushy with advice not just on modelling but ever helpful when I was doing some building work too - he was an ex Building Control Inspector.

 

A lovely man with a great sense of humour.  You'll be missed mate.

 

[NHY 581]

This is such sad, truly shocking news. 

 

A lovely man and one who I consider myself very lucky to have known. 

 

God bless you, Grahame. 

 

Rob. 

 

[Brinkly]

This really is such sad news. Grahame was a truly lovely man and a great friend. 

 

The world is a darker place without him. Rest in peace, my friend. I feel honored to have known you. 

 

Nick.

[NGT6 1315]

A very tragic turn of events indeed and I can only begin, if even that, to imagine the anguish for his family now. Thinking of them.

[St Enodoc]

Oh dear, that's the news I'd been fearing but at the same time hoping not to hear.

 

I never met Grahame in real life but our online friendship here over the past few years is something I'll remember and treasure for a long time.

[Not Jeremy]

Very sad news indeed.

 

I first met Grahame a very long time ago without "knowing who he was" (this was pre Internet) when attending the late Pete Tarry's Exeter Model Railway show. I don't recall his unique sense of humour being quite so evident, but his modelling skill, knowledge and obvious intelligence very much was, he was very interesting and good to talk to on many different levels.

 

Along with many others here and elsewhere I have enjoyed his company a lot since those far off days, and as Tim said, it is very hard to comprehend that he isn't still here, just waiting with a witty aside or something delightfully "left field".

 

Farewell Grahame, you are very much missed.

 

Simon Castens

[Brinkly]

As I'm sure many others are, I am completely stunned by this terrible news. I've known Grahame for several years, meeting him with other DRAG members at shows. 

 

Last year, when I was unwell, he would either call or message every few days to check how I was. We had some lovely chats all about everything: it meant so much to me at the time (and still does). He had such a warm heart and generous personality - his advice recently with regard to my career move was considered and thoughtful.

 

Only a couple of weeks ago, he shared with my his latest project based on Northern Italy with me. Even in this project's early stage, his modelling talents shone through. He was a very gifted and talented modelmaker.   

 

I feel incredibly lucky to have met such a lovely man.

 

Rest in peace my friend - I will miss you greatly and the world is a little less bright without you. 

 

Nick.

[ROSSPOP]

I`m very saddened to suddenly come across this news. I never met Graham but we often chatted on this forum about our modelling projects. I have many of his encouraging words on many of my GWR threads, he always came across as a really nice person. It would have been good to have met him ..  I shall miss his comments.  

[Dunsignalling]

I only ever met Grahame at the Staplegrove events, engaging in some entertaining and informative (for me) discussions outside the hall, which formed a most enjoyable part of the proceedings. I can only hope that my small contributions will have constituted some measure of two-way traffic.

 

As one who is still recuperating from a "small" stroke back in October, I dread to think what "massive" ones feel like and Grahame's family have my greatest sympathy in their loss.

 

John

[Ramblin Rich]

Oh that's really sad. I met Graham at SWAG meetings and socials, always found him friendly and knowledgeable with obvious skills to boot. A genuinely good fellow and a real loss.

Appreciate Tim (Captain Kernow) being the contact point and passing on the news; I can see how this has affected you and all those who've known him.

 

[10800]

Very very sad. I can't say I knew him as well as some, but he lit up anywhere he was present. RIP Grahame.

[J. S. Bach]

Yes, I do not know who you were but rest in peace.

[Chris116]

R.I.P.

[wiggoforgold]

Very sad new Tim. He was such a nice gentleman.

[Phil Bullock]

I only knew Grahame on this forum but for sure it will be the poorer without him.

 

R.I.P and thank you for the shared experience and knowledge.

[NHY 581]

Grahame has been an ever present since I started documenting my somewhat haphazard approach to railway modelling on this forum. His comments, advice, witty asides and above all, his friendship were something that I greatly valued. 

We corresponded and spoke on many subjects over the years and I always seemed to come away from these exchanges having learnt something, either by way of knowledge gained, the obtaining of a different view or sometimes something about myself, triggered by something said by Grahame. 

He was an extremely skilled modeller but was terribly modest about it all. His new Italian layout looked set to become a cracker, his scratch built buildings being beautifully executed. I had hoped that we would see this at Staplegrove and discussed the possibility of this during one of our last conversations. 

 

I shall miss him, his enthusiasm for many things, his good humour, his considered advice and his at times , truly impish sense of fun. 

 

 

God bless you, Grahame and may you rest in peace. 

 

 

 

Rob. 

[Barnaby]

RIP Grahame, thank you for you explanations and suggestions made on these forums, they were a great help to me.

 

Best

[Gedward]

 

"Only one comment....it's always sunny here in Devon !"

 

This was one of Grahame's first comments at the start of my thread. After I had threatened to actually model Dartmoor after a downpour.

 

He continued to offer some very welcome comments and asides throughout the thread.

 

So sad to hear this news.

 

RIP Grahame

 

 

George