Roger Knifton (1943-2026)
Thank you for being with us here today in honoring Roger’s life. I am sure Roger is looking down at us all now and wondering what all the fuss is about.
Born on the 21st November 1943 at a house on Wood Lane, just opposite the Sitwell Arms, Roger was the oldest son of Harry and Winnie Knifton. Together with older sister Margaret, and younger brother Richard, the family lived here for almost 25 years. His dad, Harry, had been a farming contractor since the 1930’s, working on farms from here to Ashbourne, so the family were well known in farming circles.
When he was 4, Roger we was asked to be a page boy at the wedding of his cousin Jim Knifton, but managed to catch mumps. But as in later life, an illness wasn’t going to stop Roger from doing what he wanted to do, so wrapped with a scarf around his neck, he continued to do his duty.
School wasn’t Roger’s favorite place, but like many others, he looked back on those years fondly. With a smile, when asked about his education, Roger was always quick to declare that his first school was Smalley Girls School. This was true – it was the school behind the Church, and the school where all the infants went to, but at the age of 5 he moved to Smalley Boys School until 1957 when he had his final year at William Howitt Secondary School.
Roger seems to have been a bit of a rogue in his younger years. His mother Winnie was fair but strict, and punishment would be dished out with the help of a hand-brush. One day Roger was sat at the dining table and decided to cut a piece out of the wood out of it. Winnie saw the mark and asked who had done it. Roger, still with the penknife in his hand said ‘I don’t know’… and out came the brush!
But those early years exposed Roger to the joy of farming and the hard-work which came with it, and the enjoyment and satisfaction from being able to drive just about any vehicle. His Uncle Frank Knifton was a farmer who had a David Brown tractor which allowed you to lock the steering wheel and make it to go round in a circle. He was only about 6 years old when his dad and Frank sat Roger in the seat and set the tractor off in circles, with Roger thinking that he was driving it.
Roger’s dad Harry had a small collection of farm equipment which included a couple of tractors, a threshing drum, bailing equipment, and a combine harvester. When Roger left school at 15 he worked with Harry, and he got to know the threshing drum inside-out. In later life he used to visit farm shows, and the magic of these working threshing drums still fascinated him, taking him back to his earlier years.
When his dad Harry started to suffer ill health, Roger carried on the farm-contracting work until he was 22 years old. He liked nothing more than being sat on a combine harvester, or on a tractor bailing. And if he wasn’t out on a farm he would be in a lorry. In 1963 he began working for Cottam’s Haulage as a contractor, collecting milk churns from farms in Butland Hollow, Ambergate, Shottle, Belper and Heage, and taking it to Northern Dairies in Derby. Another round took him to Turnditch, Mercaston, and Hulland Ward. In the summer he would do the milk collections in the morning, 7 days a week, and combining in the afternoon. It’s a wonder that he had time to find a wife…
As a teenager, Roger had a paper-round which took him to Linkwood Farm at Smalley, the home of his future in-laws Bill and Bessie Hudson. After 5 years of courting, Roger married Inez in 1966 here, in this church.
Driving home after an outing one day out, Roger and Inez passed Vic Hallam’s at Langley Mill. Roger called in to ask if they had got any job vacancies - they did, and in 1967 he started working there, where he would stay for the next 27 years until the business closed. He mostly worked on wood cutting machines, and with little provision of, or encouragement to wear, hearing protection, the loud noise would later cause Roger to suffer tinnitus in one ear. Even though he had a car, which in those days was a Morris Minor, he preferred ‘the exercise’ and chose to bike to work each day. He still used his bike when he moved to Smalley in the late 70’s, making the most of just 3 gears which somehow got him up the steep hill of Mansfield Road and the hill near Heanor Gate School.
But the enjoyment of farming still ran strong in Roger’s blood, and after 5 weekdays at Vic’s he would spend Saturday’s at Church Farm in Denby, and summer evenings at Skelton’s Farm on Adale Road, haymaking, silageing, and helping with general farm work.
Roger was also a keen gardener and his family were never short of fresh vegetables. He used to tend not only his own garden at Loscoe Grange, but also the neighbours. He bought a rotovator and spent many evenings ploughing up the gardens. I don’t know how he found the time to hold down a full-time job at Vic’s, the weekend farming at Denby, and managing 2 gardens at Loscoe Grange. One of Roger’s bosses once told a friend that he was the hardest working man in Langley Mill. But Roger always wanted to be doing something.
After Vic Hallam’s closed, Roger started working for Gee Joinery at Smalley. He stayed there for 7 years, where he got a forklift truck license. After Gee’s he found a job at Stratstone BMW in Derby - he was back to driving, this time collecting customer’s cars for service, and returning them the following day. There was always a brand-new BMW parked on his drive in the evening, although it took a while for the neighbours to realise they didn’t belong to him!
Away from work, Roger continued to enjoy being outdoors at any opportunity – walking the dog twice a day, hiking ‘up Derbyshire’, or just washing the car. Family holidays were spent in a tent – I can see him now putting that tent up in the rain - which is probably why the tent was later upgraded to a caravan. Between summer holidays, Roger and Inez would take the caravan up Derbyshire for a weekend whenever possible, together with their grandchildren and their dog Ben. The caravan was later swapped for a motorhome, and Ben was succeeded by Pippa.
Other holidays took them on safari in Kenya, summer and winter trips to Prague, and several long-haul journeys to Thailand. Roger could never get enough of the warm weather and spicy food. Roger and Inez also visited Austria, Spain, Greece, Australia, and New Zealand where they hired a camper-van for a few weeks, touring the south island.
In later life, the garden got smaller as grass replaced the soil; the rotovator was replaced with a mower, and Roger would spend many a happy Sunday morning cutting the lawn. Despite facing challenges which come with age, he continued to make the effort to get around in his car, visiting old friends near and far, and befriending those his journey took him to.
Roger was a husband, a brother, a father, a brother-in-law, a father-in-law, granddad, uncle, cousin, and a friend to all of you here today. He will be forever remembered by us all, and missed each and every day.
Thank you.