The community of the Ullswater area lost a man who contributed to it in many ways with the death of Richard Kelso, of Glenridding, aged 59.
A kind, caring all action figure who was also a great family man, he was particularly known for his dedication to Patterdale Cricket Club, both as a player and dynamic administrator.
One of three children of Mary and the late Austin Kelso, he had two brothers, Martin and Graham, who was his twin. Richard received his education at Patterdale School and Ullswater School, Penrith.
After leaving school at the age of 16, he joined Austin Kelso and Sons Limited, the long established plumbing, heating and electrical contractors which had been set up by his father in the 1950s. He went on to become director of the firm.
He inherited his father’s great sense of humour and all who knew him will recall his great timing and one-line innuendos.
As a businessman he always gave a warm welcome to clients both new and old. He regularly turned out to help them with burst pipes and broken boilers — it did not matter if it was over a weekend, in the evening or even, on more than one occasion, on Christmas Day.
He met his future wife, Lynn, when she approached him in a local pub as he was playing darts and asked if he could fix a leaking pipe at her home. He was too shy to go himself and instead sent his father to do the work, but nevertheless eventually got together with Lynn.
The couple went on to live in Glenridding and had three children, Daniel, Clare and Dean.
Away from work and his family, he gave nearly 40 years of loyal service at the Patterdale fire station, latterly as the leading retained firefighter. He was always willing to give wise guidance to junior members of the team — including Clare and Dean. During Storm Desmond in 2015 he organised the team to go beyond the call of duty to rescue villagers from the floods.
Richard was an enthusiastic and talented sportsman. As a footballer, he was a tenacious full back and centre half for Ullswater United, progressing to become player/manager and finally manager before retiring in his late 30s. He also played Sunday league football for Dacre.
But his real passion was cricket and he was a champion of all things relating to the Patterdale club. He represented it in the Eden Valley League for more than 40 years, having started playing when he was a youngster. He went on to captain the team for a long period.
He was a talented opening batsman and in 1999 notched up a score of 173, which remained the highest in the league for many years. He hit a total of seven centuries and also holds the record for the highest opening partnership ever for Patterdale jointly with Sam Iredale, who scored 147 not out while Richard made 110.
Richard also contributed with the ball, being a regular wicket taker with his medium paced bowling. He was for many years the chairman of the trustees of Patterdale’s King George V playing field.
He devoted most of his spare time in the summer months to preparing the wicket at the field, cutting the outfield and maintaining the machinery. Latterly he guided his son Dean to take on this duty.
It was Richard who was instrumental in organising a great team of local people to raise the funds which enabled the club to build its impressive new sports pavilion — it would be fair to say that if it had not been for his efforts the facility would not have been built.
He personally managed to secure substantial donations from many generous clients of his plumbing business and also harnessed lots of support and donations from all manner of local residents and businesses. A grant was obtained from the England and Wales Cricket Board, and Richard also persuaded England opening batsmen Graham Gooch to give an after dinner speech at a local hotel to raise even more funds for the club.
Many will remember the recent television series presented by England all-rounder Freddie Flintoff which followed a group of underprivileged youths from Preston who had never played cricket before and came to Patterdale to play their first game
It was Richard who spoke with Freddie, helped to make the series happen and also played in the game which was one of its key elements.
He fulfilled a lifetime ambition when he took Lynn on holiday to Australia in 2017 to watch the Boxing Day test match at the MCC in Melbourne. She was at least allowed to enjoy travelling up the Gold Coast in a motor home for a month before they came back.
His other great passions was Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, for which local farmer and close friend Peter Lightfoot was to blame. He was a member of the Cumbria Spurs Supporters Club and, in company with another friend, local businessman Malcolm Beaty, travelled to London to watch matches. They also followed Spurs all over Europe, visiting many of its famous stadiums.
He is survived by his mother Mary, of Keswick; brothers Graham, of Glenridding, and Martin, who lives at Matterdale; wife Lynn, of Glenridding; daughter Clare, also of Glenridding; and sons Dean, of Patterdale, and Daniel, who lives on Malta.
Richardsons Funeral Directors, Penrith, had charge of the arrangements.
