John Richard Drinkall 1931-2025.
Posted: 27 Apr 2025, 08:09
John Richard Drinkall 1931-2025.
I got news this morning that Richard Drinkall died peacefully at home on the 14th of April aged 94, five years older than me. Richard was a cattle dealer and I worked for him as his cattle waggon driver. He was a good man to work for and I enjoyed it, I feel I ought to set some of that experience down as a tribute to Richard who was not only my employer but a good friend as well.
The time I worked for Richard in the late 1960s and early 70s was the end of an era. We didn't know it at the time but the great tides of cattle that were the mainspring of the Scottish cattle trade were coming to an end and I saw the last of them. The trade then was to take good black and white heifer calves North, sell them to the rearers in SW Scotland and bring them back as calving heifers three to four years later. At that time there were many farmer-retailers in the North West of England who could afford to pay a good price for top class heifers and when they had finished with them we bought them back and sold them down the country in Cheshire and beyond as mature beasts but still with a good life before them. Richard was well known in Scotland as a good honest man and if ever I got into trouble and needed help in that part of Scotland I could call at any farm and would get whatever I needed. I remember coming home one day from the far North of Scotland and I was running short of fuel. I stopped at a farmhouse near Lockerbie, knocked on the door and when the man answered I asked him for £50 which he gave me without question. A man who was riding with me was very impressed and asked. "Are there many places where you can do that?" I don't know whether he believed me when I said yes but I called at the next filling station and put £50 worth of diesel in the tank.
I have written elsewhere telling some of the stories Richard and I shared but I want to recall just one because it says so much about him. I had called in one day at Yew Tree Farm, West Marton as I was expecting Richard to return from a buying trip to Scotland and would have orders for me. Ursula his wife was feeding me sponge cake when he came in. After a few minutes Ursula asked where John, their son, was. Richard said no and how could he be expected to know as he had been out all day. Ursula said "Well, he was with you when you went out!" Richard digested this and his face was a picture when he realised he had completely forgotten about John and left him at Jim Baird's farm at Lurdenlaw near Kelso. His head had been full of cattle and no thought for his son. A quick phone call to Kelso and it was arranged that I would pick John up the following week when I delivered some calves there. We have laughed at that many times since then.
My daughter Margaret has made sure over the years that when she was visiting from Australia she took me to see Richard. We missed this year because he was unwell so it's eighteen months since I last saw him. At the time he was in good health so I have a good memory of him. He was a good man. I was lucky to have him as a gaffer. We never had a wrong word and the years I spent with him were some of the happiest days of my life. I shall miss him and the world is a poorer place without him.
Stanley Challenger Graham 27 April 2025.
I got news this morning that Richard Drinkall died peacefully at home on the 14th of April aged 94, five years older than me. Richard was a cattle dealer and I worked for him as his cattle waggon driver. He was a good man to work for and I enjoyed it, I feel I ought to set some of that experience down as a tribute to Richard who was not only my employer but a good friend as well.
The time I worked for Richard in the late 1960s and early 70s was the end of an era. We didn't know it at the time but the great tides of cattle that were the mainspring of the Scottish cattle trade were coming to an end and I saw the last of them. The trade then was to take good black and white heifer calves North, sell them to the rearers in SW Scotland and bring them back as calving heifers three to four years later. At that time there were many farmer-retailers in the North West of England who could afford to pay a good price for top class heifers and when they had finished with them we bought them back and sold them down the country in Cheshire and beyond as mature beasts but still with a good life before them. Richard was well known in Scotland as a good honest man and if ever I got into trouble and needed help in that part of Scotland I could call at any farm and would get whatever I needed. I remember coming home one day from the far North of Scotland and I was running short of fuel. I stopped at a farmhouse near Lockerbie, knocked on the door and when the man answered I asked him for £50 which he gave me without question. A man who was riding with me was very impressed and asked. "Are there many places where you can do that?" I don't know whether he believed me when I said yes but I called at the next filling station and put £50 worth of diesel in the tank.
I have written elsewhere telling some of the stories Richard and I shared but I want to recall just one because it says so much about him. I had called in one day at Yew Tree Farm, West Marton as I was expecting Richard to return from a buying trip to Scotland and would have orders for me. Ursula his wife was feeding me sponge cake when he came in. After a few minutes Ursula asked where John, their son, was. Richard said no and how could he be expected to know as he had been out all day. Ursula said "Well, he was with you when you went out!" Richard digested this and his face was a picture when he realised he had completely forgotten about John and left him at Jim Baird's farm at Lurdenlaw near Kelso. His head had been full of cattle and no thought for his son. A quick phone call to Kelso and it was arranged that I would pick John up the following week when I delivered some calves there. We have laughed at that many times since then.
My daughter Margaret has made sure over the years that when she was visiting from Australia she took me to see Richard. We missed this year because he was unwell so it's eighteen months since I last saw him. At the time he was in good health so I have a good memory of him. He was a good man. I was lucky to have him as a gaffer. We never had a wrong word and the years I spent with him were some of the happiest days of my life. I shall miss him and the world is a poorer place without him.
Stanley Challenger Graham 27 April 2025.
