A true gentleman who was the engine at the heart of a business held in high regard by members of Cumbria’s farming community has died at the age of 69.
With a quiet, wry sense of humour and a ready smile, Richard Relph loved people and took pride in knowing all his regular customers at TW Relph & Sons of Yanwath — a now rare example of a traditional farm equipment and agricultural goods supplier.
The oldest child of the late Willy and Carol Relph, he was born at St Thomas’s Hospital, London. His father hailed from a farming family at St John’s-in-the-Vale, near
Keswick, where, with his father Joseph, he was a well known sheep dog trainer. Willy and his wife, a nurse and proud native of York, farmed at Sandwick, Martindale.
Brought up at Beckside Farm, overlooking Ullswater, along with his brother John, the young Richard Joseph Relph was instilled with an ethos that one must work hard to get on in life. He relished the outdoors and the hard physical work of the farm and this never left him.
Richard initially went to Yanwath School — first on and last off the bus — where he became head boy. From the age of 11 he attended the former Heversham Grammar School, now part of Dallam School, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Many of his holidays were spent doing land-based jobs, such as working on a pig farm and as a gardener.
He went on to study agriculture and food marketing at Newcastle University and gained a BSc Hons degree.
His father had started a small seed and animal health agency business and in 1971 the family moved from Martindale to Moor House, Yanwath. From a few wooden sheds at this site and a van, there sprang the thriving business of today.
After leaving Newcastle University — where his brother John also studied — Richard returned to Yanwath in 1977 to help his father with the growing business. John joined the venture a year later.
It was in 1981 that the first large shed of the current premises was built to house the growing selection of goods offered by TW Relph & Sons, which came to include country clothing and footwear of all sorts as well as a vast range of farming items.
Often described as an Aladdin’s cave, it has always been a social hub for the agricultural community, in no small measure because of Richard and John’s welcoming manner.
As a director, Richard played a key role in the growth of the family business, running the office and dealing with suppliers and customers.
Renowned for his incredible ability to carry facts and figures around in his head, he had enormous energy, rising early and working late. He seemed unaffected when meals were missed and, even on Sundays when the shop was closed, if he wasn’t walking the fells, he could be found working among his sheep or catching up on outside jobs.
Richard was a kind, honest family man who loved people and the local area.
He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of Cumbrian farming life. He truly valued and loved his staff, and his door was always open for advice and support.
It was at the business that he met his future wife, Victoria Storey, from Bampton, when she brought some combs and cutters in to be sharpened. The couple were married in 1985 and went on to have three children, Gregory, Verity and Patrick.
In addition to his family and the business, Richard’s interests included music, especially rock and blues. He loved walking on the Lake District fells, as well as further afield, and mapping out his holidays. He also enjoyed reading, especially about local history.
Richard served on Sockbridge and Tirril Parish Council for more than 10 years, making sound, sensible contributions on local matters, and, as a young man, had been a member of the area’s civil defence committee during the Cold War years.
He will be remembered as a true gentleman with a ready smile who always treated people fairly, as he would wish to be treated himself.
He is survived by his brother John, and wife Victoria, both of Yanwath; sons Gregory, Shap, and Patrick, Sebergham; daughter Verity, London; and grandson Nikolai.
The funeral service was held last week at St Michael’s Church, Barton, followed by a celebration of his life at the Edenhall Country House Hotel. Walkers Funeral Directors, Penrith, had charge of the arrangements.
Donations in memory of Richard, to Cancer Research UK and Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland, can be made online at www.walkersfunerals.co.uk or sent c/o Walker’s Funeral Directors, Tynefield House, Penrith CA11 8HY. Cheques should be made payable to the chosen charity.
