PROMINENT former upper dale farmer and avid historian Roger Redfearn has died, aged 83.
Mr Redfearn will be best remembered for his impressive knowledge of the history of Forest-in-Teesdale and his informative talks to groups on the subject.
He was also heavily involved in a host of community and agricultural groups.
The dalesman was born during a snowstorm at Cock Lake, Forest-in-Teesdale, on February 24, 1937, and he attended school there before moving on to King James School, Bishop Auckland.
His daughter, Suzanne Guy, said Mr Redfearn would take a taxi to Middleton Station and travel by train to school, setting off a 7am and not returning until 6pm.
She added: “He wanted to work at Sellafield but his father said he had to stay home and farm.”
The family moved to Bail Hill Farm in the late 1940s where he met his wife, Brenda ,in 1959. They were married on October 5, 1963, and had three children between 1966 and 1971.
During his time as a farmer, Mr Redfearn supplemented his income by doing drystone walling and taught the skill at Houghall College.
He also worked organising courses for the Agricultural Training Board.
His community activities included being chairman of the local agricultural discussion group, being a governor at Forest of Teesdale school and being a member of the Tenant Farmers’ Association and NFU.
The family moved to High Park Wall in April 1981.
His interest in history led to him becoming a founder member of Teesdale U3A.
His daughter said: “Dad’s interest began with the 13 families that came from Derbyshire to mine lead, of which the Redfearns were one. Roger’s grandmother, Alice, opened the first post office in Forest and Alie and Dolly succeeded her. He had spoken to lots of people to get further information. Roger loved to talk so it just got around that he had lots of information.”
He was invited to speak at, among others, Barnard Castle and District History Society and Teesdale Heritage Group on subjects such as his family history and Forest-in-Teesdale from 1100 to the present day. Mr Redfearn was also a passionate supporter of the Fitzhugh Library, in Middleton-in-Teesdale, which houses information about the area.
He retired to Barnard Castle in 2001 and continued his involvement with a number of groups until his death on January 7.
Mr Redfearn is survived by his wife Brenda, son Barry, daughter and son in law Suzanne and Chris, and granddaughter Hannah.
An no collection could be held during his remembrance service the family has set up an online fundraising page to raise cash for Fitzhugh Library. People can support the effort by visiting justgiving.com/crowdfunding/roger-redfearn.
