Farewell to a Gentleman (Sid Robinson)

Up early again this morning to drive over to Newport, South Wales, to attend the funeral of 97-year old Sid Robinson, the former Chairman of the Friends of the Newport Transporter Bridge and local historian and author.  I had met Sid during my time as the editor of the FONTB journal, The Vision" and you couldn't wish to meet a kinder gentleman - yes he was indeed a gentleman.  He had a memory the size of the biggest computer and could remember details in the life of Cardiff, Newport and the Severn Estuary going back decades.  Right up until the time of his illness, he was as sprightly as ever and was still going "over the top" of the Newport Transporter Bridge.  I met with other FONTB committee members at the bridge and we saw Sid take his last trip across the Usk on the bridge.  Then up to a very cold committal service at Christchurch Cemetery near the Roman settlement of Caerleon.  Following his interment, I drove to Penarth for a memorial service and wake at the Salvation Army Citadel presided over by Captain Steve Mayo of the Penarth Salvation Army.  An excellent service in warm surroundings with a good buffet wake afterwards.  It was good to see some old familiar faces but sad that it was in such circumstances.  Sid never had a spare moment and I am sure that it was his constant interest and movement that kept him going almost until his 100th year.  I returned home via Cardiff and Newport again but on my return home my laptop failed to boot up properly and PC World advised me that my hard drive seems to have failed.  I have bought a new laptop and, fortunately most of my study material has been saved on an external hard drive, but I have have lost some of my Complex accounts which I'll need to recover somehow.