R.W. (Bob) Burlington (FS 50-53).

Ruth Burlington has contributed the following regarding her late father.

“Bob to his family and friends was born in Whitehaven. He went to prep school in Cockermouth, but with the death of his father when he was ten years old, his family moved to St Helens. It was at this young age he started to develop his passion for cars - reversing the family car out of the drive to help his mother!

Bob went to St Bees as a full time boarder. He always spoke fondly of his life at school playing rugby and he especially enjoyed cycling around the lakes, wearing a cycling cape that would become increasingly heavy as it became sodden with the rain.

He left St Bees aged 16 (much to the disquiet of his mother) in order to follow his passion for cars by becoming an apprentice at the Austin Motor Company in Birmingham. At weekends he would deliver new cars to a garage in Whitehaven, returning to the factory with the part-exchange vehicle, travelling via St Helens to visit his family, all along A roads, as there were no motorways. Bob remained a passionate Austin ex-apprentice. Study at night school while doing his apprenticeship enabled him to gain a place at Manchester University to read Mechanical Engineering.

Having gained his degree, he married Maureen in 1961 and returned to Cumbria to work at High Duty Alloys in Workington. In subsequent years he went back to the Midlands to work for BMC at Longbridge, then Adderley Park in Birmingham. He became involved in industrial relations and production engineering. In the early 1970s he was headhunted to Tower Housewares as their Production Director. He left there to set up his own manufacturing business in Coventry. He sold the business in order to move to Southport so that he could renovate a house where he could care for his mother, who had severe rheumatoid arthritis. She sadly died in early 1977 only six weeks after the move. Bob continued to diversify, setting up an antiques business and renovating property for resale.

In 1995 Bob purchased some land in Keswick and fulfilled a lifelong ambition by building a house to his own specifications. He immersed himself in Keswick life, as a member of the Rotary Club and latterly Probus, assisting with the floods in 2009 and ensuring that the Wishing Well in Keswick was made locally from quality stainless steel. He also acquired an Austin 7 chummy that he was often seen driving around or showing at local events.

Ill health meant that he was unable to drive for the last two years of his life, a crushing blow for him. Even during his last illness he maintained his lifelong optimism, often saying that school and university had taught him that there was no such word as ‘can’t’ as ‘there is always another way of solving a problem’. He died peacefully at Mary Hewetson Hospital in Keswick, leaving his wife Maureen, two daughters and two grandchildren.”

Footnote: Before his death, Bob was about to publish a book on Sir Leonard Lord, Chairman of the British Motor Corporation. His family would be keen to hear from any OSBs with an interest in the history of the motor trade who might like to help with this. Enquiries to the OSB Office please.

 

 

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St Bees School,    St Bees,    Cumbria,    CA27 0DS.

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