William Frederick Greetham (G 53-58).

Tim (J.D.S.) Brown (G 53-59) writes:

“My old friend Canon Bill Greetham died on February 19th. We started school together in September 1953 on Meadow House and remained friends thereafter. I was privileged to be best man at his wedding and to be the godfather of his son. I am ever grateful for his support and kindness to me and my family. He was the eldest of three boys, all of whom attended St Bees, and was born in Ilkley in 1940. At school he will be remembered not only for his nightly rendering of the Last Post from Grindal, but also as the Chapel Sacristan and as a musician of note. He always looked back with pleasure to the brilliant production of Ruddigore and his performance, with Willie Jones, as a priest.

It was not as a priest that he began his working life. He trained as a teacher at Bede College, Durham, where he also enjoyed his trips to Roker Park with my father. His teacher-training took him to some of the rougher parts of the North-East, but he went on to teach at other schools, including Harecroft Hall. Having returned to Durham, he trained for the church at St John’s College and was ordained in Blackburn Cathedral in 1966. After various curacies in Lancashire, he became chaplain to Aysgarth School in Yorkshire and in 1975 became vicar of nearby Patrick Brompton in Wensleydale. On a return visit to Durham he was reunited with Ursula, whom he had met at training college, and they were married in January 1979. His son Martin was born in 1980 and his daughter Sally in 1982, after he had moved to Kirkby Stephen where he spent the rest of his working life.

Bill threw himself into life in eastern Cumbria, playing golf at Appleby, singing in the local choral society and enjoying fellwalking and photography. In Kirkby Stephen he will be remembered for his campaigning zeal in helping to save the local grammar school, but above all for his hard work to help save the Settle-Carlisle railway line. He was always passionate about railways. During a maths lesson at school, S.T. Aston told a boy to sit down when he was observing a passing engine, saying that Greetham could always give him the number! He spent much time on the Settle line, arranging commemorative services and, in retirement, becoming a voluntary on-train guide, when he greatly enjoyed regaling the passengers about local history and on the glorious countryside through which they were passing.

From 1986 to 1991 Bill was Rural Dean of Appleby, and in 1989 became an honorary Canon of Carlisle Cathedral. His final move was in 1996 to four parishes in the Lythe Valley, which included that gem of Cumbrian churches, St Anthony’s on Cartmel Fell. A visitor there will see a splendid collection of photographs of Bill and Ursula at the Millennium celebrations.

He retired in 2006 to Whittington near Kirkby Lonsdale where he lent a willing hand to local parishes. As well as his railway work, he pursued his choral career with the Kendal South choir, which included singing in St Paul’s Cathedral. Golf, visits to Headingley to watch Yorkshire, and trips to Twickenham also kept him occupied. Throughout his career he found great support and encouragement from Ursula, whom he said had been his rock; and she certainly was as she nursed him through his last illness. He had a remission last summer and a lasting impression for me is seeing him on a sunny day at Coniston, with his Panama hat and camera in hand ready to see his son Martin complete an exhausting fell race.

Bill was a true pastor. For him the church was not about committees and extra-mural distractions, but about caring for people in a Christian fashion and leading his flock like a true shepherd. That so many ex-parishioners attended his funeral was testimony enough. His funeral at Whittington was addressed by his golfing pal, the ex-Bishop, Gordon Bates, and there was magnificent singing from his choral society colleagues. Among a goodly contingent of Old St Beghians were Sam Ashton, Ken Stamper, John Lancaster, Vic Crowther, John Pearcy, David Lord and Christopher Johnson (son of Bill’s old pal, Bert).

One last memory: the evening before the funeral, Bill was received into church and his coffin covered with his Canon’s cope. When Ursula turned it over, she found that on the reverse Bill had pinned his Settle-Carlisle railway badge – a fitting combination!”

 

Home

The St Beghian Society    
St Bees School,    St Bees,    Cumbria,    CA27 0DS.

         Tel: (01946) 828093      Email: osb@st-bees-school.co.uk      Web: www.st-beghian-society.co.uk