RIP David Barrowcliff

[PeteB]

David Barrowcliff recently passed away after a battle with spinal cancer and dementia. My best wishes to all those others affected by dementia and have to watch as the great and the good suffer from this truly awful condition.

 

David Barrowcliff was my uncle, he allowed me into the world of timber contracting as a holiday job back in 1982. That holiday job lasted until 1998 when it finished and I joined GreenMech.

 

He was born as one of five children between the war years and his father and uncles were also timber contractors of note in the East Midlands. As an 11 year old, David even had his own horse and helped his father tush out trees and after a stint on the college farm at Sutton Bonington College, National Service, a couple of years with the BRS and driving construction equipment during the building of Ratcliffe Power Station, he went back to timber. His first job was to clear fell 27 acres of poplar trees which he sold in the round. He set out on his first day to cycle the 7 miles to the site on a bike with his cross cut and axe tied to the cross bar, by the end, he was employing people and had transport and a D8 crawler with a blade.

 

David was for a while in business with one of his brothers, Keith, who was an inventive engineer and between them, they converted Army lorries into Artic Drugs (Bolster trucks to you young ones) with kit purchased from Ruddington Sales as well as buying and selling timber. Keith died from injuries after an incident with a Chevy Quad timber crane which I purchased many years later and was instructed to cut it up for scrap. David ran a sawmill cutting timber for all kinds of people and included many hundreds of lorry loads of pit props that prop up the mines of Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. David felled, snedded, loaded, converted and delivered many thousands of trees in his working life and I helped him cut down the last big Elm tree in the parish of Sutton Bonington back in 1984, that tree was the last of 97 from that parish alone, some of which I remember being 8 feet through.

 

After the hey day of DED, he down-sized the sawmill to concentrate more on contracting to the Utility sector. Although he would occasionally take on "fell and extract" work to give his employees (me included) an insight or skill base for their future. He taught me to extract and load some sizable lumps with a small 2 wheel drive International without getting the butt too dirty or making a mess of the landing. When I started, the mill was finished, although we would occasionally mill butts for the experience - he was brilliant at quarter cutting by eye and I still have his bible of Decimal Cube Tables dated 1949 and Hoppus Feet Tables. He would even have us split butts with wooden wedges so that we could experience the old methods of work without power saws. He es-cued many modern methods and tools but always completed the work required to an excellent degree, he would never entertain getting a blower or cherry picker or even a tipper. He taught us to put a rope around the load of brash and get someone to drive off whilst you pulled the load to the ground! He was cynical of me when I started to buy Landrovers, 4x4 Transits, woodchippers and the Unimog. "Cash is better in the pocket" "boot leather is cheap" he would say.

 

David was typical "old school" in that his word was enough, did not bother too much with order numbers, but ran a profitable organisation and he fostered into many people, a strong work ethic and the desire to do things "right". His tree work skills where learned from his fore fathers and was working to a form of CODIT whilst Doc Shigo was chewing on his pencil. He would often cut a log in certain way to show the young ones the collars and barriers within the grain of timber and show how/why a pruning cut is necessary. He wore steel toecapped boots, moleskin trousers, putees and more often worked in a vest believing that chainsaw trousers/boots were not necessary if you were capable and competent. I rarely saw him wear ear muffs or safety helmet or visor - he preferred to hear/see when a big butt is coming over. Head protection was a woolly hat and a coat was a Donkey Jacket with NCB across the shoulders.

 

Although not a tall man, he was heavily built and had "presence" without demanding it. I saw him get really cross on a number of occasions but he did not feel the need to shout or thump people - a gentle man who liked to have the odd drink, play dominoes in the pub and laugh heartily. He would help anyone who asked and many who did not, benefited from his largess too.

 

David always helped out with the local branch of The British Legion and was always giving generously to local affairs like the Kegworth Steam Show (when it existed) and quite often "forgot" to send people their bill or collect money for firewood delivered.

 

I have many, many fond memories of working at Barrowcliffs and I'm sure the others who worked there will too. Some of whom will be at his funeral on the 31st Jan.

 

David is survived by his loving wife, my aunt, Joan.

 

Rest Easy Dave, thanks for everything.

 

Goodbye My Auld................

[Steve Bullman]

Nice piece Pete, sorry for your loss.

[Johny Walker]

sorry to here that pete ,

[Matthew Storrs]

sad news, nice tribute though.

[skyhuck]

Sounds like one of the last of a dying breed.

 

Clearly meant a great deal to you and no doubt many others, very sorry for your loss.

 

Great men live on in the lives of those who knew them.

[Stephen Blair]

He sounds like a Legend, sorry for your loss Pete.

RIP

[Mozza]

Gutted for you Pete.

 

He sounds like a great man, RIP.

 

 

 

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[Treemon]

Sorry to hear your news , being "local" ive heard of him but never met him (as far as i know) What you have written is so obviously from the heart and such characters are getting fewer and fewer and harder to find (ive met a few in my life my dad being one of them ) Thanks for sharing this , its such a shame the younger generation will never meet such talented and professional workers.

 

Thinking of you Rog

[penfold]

Sorry to hear this pete. Thoughts are with you at this sad time.

[mattplace]

....... He wore steel toecapped boots, moleskin trousers, putees and more often worked in a vest believing that chainsaw trousers/boots were not necessary if you were capable and competent. I rarely saw him wear ear muffs or safety helmet or visor - he preferred to hear/see when a big butt is coming over.

 

Sounds just like a dear old family friend who got me into this lark..... He's not in the best of health but was out with me last week cutting up a big old cherry which was down on his land. 10 mins work then 30 mins rest for him and he then tells me stories of working in the woods..... I dread the day he goes

 

I feel for you Pete