Dave Valentine. Shuttleworth through and through

As many of you know, Dave Valentine died in May of this year. The SCA owes him much and below is a short obituary and some emails received by the SCA at the time.

Dave was born in Bedford in 1945. Despite living in the town he had a yearning for the countryside and it was this love that drew him to Shuttleworth in the autumn of 1964 to begin the NDA course. There are many stories from that time involving him and other students and some memories of his time at Shutts follow this short obituary.

Dave graduated in 1966 and, after a spell working as an apprentice on a farm, took up a position with RHM in Stroud. Whilst there he managed to find time to keep some livestock of his own with a few hens, ducks, pigs and even a goat. However his life would not have been complete without a dog of some sort.

In 1985 his career then took the family to Wheatley and work for Dalgety and ABN. During his time there he became immersed in the local community making many friends. His lifelong love of sport embraced rugby, playing for both School and College, rowing, cycling and motorsport.

In the lead up to and following retirement, his passion for the countryside returned and he enjoyed 21 years working with local wildlife trusts, particularly up at Treswell wood.

When Shuttleworth fell on hard times in the 1990’s Dave, with the help of others, managed to keep the SCA going. The Association owes him a great debt as his drive and enthusiasm helped put the SCA on a sound footing. Dave passed away on 19

th May of this year. He will

be sadly missed by many people but he will not be forgotten.

I know we are all getting to an age when people we know are passing away, but some losses are more heart-rending than others.

The news that my dear friend at college, Dave Valentine, has died has come as a great shock with extreme sadness, rather like my other pals, Joss Cleeve and Denzil Stones who have also passed away far too soon.

Dave and I exchanged jokes every week via email (last one 10 days ago), so I will miss that enormously. He was a larger than life character and I’ll always remember our trips in his LHD car to the PE College in Bedford.

Best wishes

Paul White NDA 64/66. Wiltshire

Please include my name amongst those sending condolences on Dave Valentine’s death. He did a marvellous job and one must appreciate all the work he put into keeping the Old Students organisation going. I can only regret not having been able to attend many annual meetings.

Yours sincerely,

Charlotte Croÿ-Twickel Ausserhof, Traidlweg, 33 6371, Aurach, Austria