A. N. (Neville) Wanless (G 45-47). The following is based on the eulogy read at the funeral and subsequently sent to the Society by his wife and daughter.
	A.N. Wanless, the beloved husband of Pat for sixty years and father of Melanie, died peacefully on 4th December 2020 aged 89 years. Neville was born in Whitley Bay in 1931 and became a boarder at St Bees School in 1945. Unfortunately, he did not remain long at the school because in his second year he developed septicaemia and was eventually taken home to recover. However, while at St Bees he found two interests which were to become very important to him for the rest of his life - golf and amateur dramatics. His school education ended in 1947 and he began work in the accounts department of his father’s engineering firm, with a view to a career in accountancy, until called-up for two years’ national service in Germany with the Royal Horse Artillery, whose base was directly opposite Belsen Concentration Camp! Following this, he returned to England and successfully completed a course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, which eventually led to an appointment with the BBC in Newcastle, initially as a freelance news reader and then as a regular broadcaster.
Neville went on to become Tyne Tees TV’s longest serving Continuity Announcer over the next eighteen years, along with holding the role of Senior Announcer and Head of Presentations. In 1988 he moved into a part time capacity, though not with a view to permanent retirement, because he was still greatly involved with freelance work for both TV and Radio. For example, in the 1990s he hosted a very popular nostalgic music show for Radio Tees and County Radio. This complemented his long and voluntary involvement with hospital radio.
His main sporting interest was golf, which he enjoyed for some seventy years, mainly at the Tynemouth Club, and at Backworth, but over the years there were few courses in the North East on which he had not played. And then there was his lifelong passion for the theatre. This began in his teens and included musicals, plays, and pantomime. He had appeared in numerous productions over the years and played a variety of parts both serious and comic.
A kind and generous man, fun to be with, and one who always had respect and time for others. He was ever the gentleman.
Please click here to see Neville's Funeral Order of Service.

 

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