John Nigel Stokes 14 November 1932 ~ 20 May 2023 It is my honour to be able to lead the tribute for my father, John Nigel Stokes. And I’d like to start by thanking everyone for coming today, the convoy drivers for making his last journey from the farm special, and to those watching from overseas and at home. From an early age, Dad was always known as ‘Nigel’. He was born in Gretton, Northamptonshire in 1932, and moved to Caldecott in 1933 where he later went to primary school before going on to Market Harborough Grammar School. Growing up at Manor Farm, here in Caldecott, Nigel developed his love of animals, and especially for horses. He learned to ride from an early age, competing in gymkhanas and finding success when winning his showjumping class at the Rutland Show. The war years left indelible memories with Nigel. I’ll summarise 3 of his wartime experiences which are now recorded in the National Archive; the first concerns a German fighter which had fired on Caldecott while my Dad was looking after 12-14 cows on the Lyddington Road (about 80 yards to my right) with his friend David Keightley. As the plane came towards them, Nigel & David jumped into the ditch to avoid being spotted and after it passed overhead, they gathered the scattered cows together again and later understood that the plane had been shot down between Harringworth and Stamford. In another entry to the archive, he recalled looking out of a bedroom window at Manor Farm together with his brothers and sister, watching Lancasters turn around for another run at the Eyebrook Reservoir Dam. The planes flew very low on moonlit nights, so low in fact, that the faces of the pilot and crew were clearly visible to them. And about a month later came the news of the daring Dambusters raid on the Eder, Sorpe & Mohne Dams in the Ruhr Valley in Germany. In a third entry, he recalled an event when a German bomber, that was not able to target the Corby steel works, on account that it had been shrouded in smoke, decided to ditch its 4 bombs in a line from Rockingham Railway Station towards the Eye Brook Reservoir Dam. One bomb failed to explode, and the residents closest to where the bomb was buried in the field (including Nigel and his family living at Manor Farm), evacuated to the Northern part of Caldecott; a few days later, the bomb squad detonated the bomb without issuing a warning, sending villagers into panic and confusion, thinking another air-raid was underway. At the end of the war, fox-hunting resumed, and Nigel, with his father and siblings rode together with the Fernie, Woodland Pytchley and Cottesmore Hunts. He left Grammar School aged just 15, to pursue his love of riding horses, becoming an apprentice jockey at Jimmy Elwell’s Racing Stables at Waltham-on-the-Wolds. After 3 years there, he received a reference attesting that he was “honest, willing and reliable. He ‘shaped well’ on 3 rides, has ridden well and is likely to become a good jockey under National Hunt rules”. Dad went on to become a jockey at the Market Deeping Stables of Mike Vergette, riding in 28 races over hurdles and on the flat at Leicester, Nottingham, Pontefract and Weatherby. His career as a jockey was interrupted when he was called up for National Service, joining the Royal Air Force in late 1951. He trained as a driver in Dumfries, Scotland and was assigned to the RAF Regiment. He served at RAF Wildenrath and RAF Fassburg in Germany, and as a driver, made frequent visits to-and-from the docks at Antwerp, transporting RAF equipment and aircraft parts for de Havilland Vampire FB.5s and then the Venom FB.1s stationed in Germany. His horse-riding abilities did not go unnoticed, and Nigel was selected for the Royal Air Force Showjumping team, successfully competing at events in Germany, against the British Army as well as for Great Britain in National competition. He was very proud to be one of very few, perhaps the only airman at that time, to have his uniform made from the finer Officer’s material especially made for such events, rather than the more usual woolly cloth worn by the ranks in those days. And he was very highly regarded by his superiors, especially after he’d won competitions - Receiving a commendation from his then Station Commander and former WWII Battle of Britain Fighter Ace, Air Commodore Edward Donaldson. In 1956, he was preparing to deploy with his Unit to Egypt as the Suez Crisis escalated, but he fell ill with a perforated Appendix. The operation which saved his life and the required recovery period, prevented his deployment to Suez and after fully recovering, Nigel left the RAF, and returned to Manor Farm, here Caldecott, initially finding work at Stuarts and Lloyds pipe-works in Corby, working nights, and driving a cattle truck during the daytime for a family firm in King’s Cliffe. He worked hard, and after meeting my Mum in 1958, they saved together and bought the Farm in Gunthorpe, moving in during 1963 after they were married. Nigel loved the farm, which he said, took a lot of work, especially during the early years, draining previously unworked marshland next to the River Gwash, and to plough up and improve rough land so that it would eventually become reasonably-yielding arable land. He invested in farm machinery and new barns and equipment to dry and store the grain. Now with myself and Theresa as part of the family, everything was going well. And then, came the news that a new reservoir would be built, flooding more than 80% of the land, and leaving insufficient to viably farm, or to make use of his investment in the machinery and buildings. As many other farmers affected by the planned new reservoir, Nigel experienced the the faceless and cowardly bureaucrats working on behalf of the Anglian Water Authority, who of course knew very little about farming, and who were indifferent to the farmers’ plight; less than the market value for the land was eventually compensated, with no appreciation for the individual circumstances. Needless to say, Nigel, along with the other similarly affected farmers, could never accept the perhaps insensitive Anglian Water strapline, ‘love every drop’, - a sour phrase that sticks in the craw. The dramatic change brought about by the building of Rutland Water in the 1970s forced several farmers out of business or to diversify as best they could. Nigel diversified by creating his haulage business, buying 3 lorries and freelancing principally for Skeffington Mill, Bradshaws in Oakham, and Barrowden Feeds. In addition, he supplied carrots to farmers from the fens and mushroom compost to garden centres around the area. These were long days which often took Nigel away from the farm, but the work was profitable and enabled him to keep us all together in Gunthorpe. With the help of my now sadly departed mother, Nigel enjoyed breeding, raising and looking after the farm animals. There were always ponies, horses and sheep, as well as periods with cattle, pigs, chickens, geese, turkeys and ducks from time to time. Though much of his land had been taken from him by Anglian Water, over the years he continued with smaller arable enterprises, growing cabbages, cauliflowers, potatoes, durum wheat and even daffodils on his remaining land. When he turned 90 last November, he made the decision to downsize his flock of sheep to 50, which began lambing earlier this year. And sadly, after an accident in his Ford Ranger in late December, he was eventually admitted to Hospital with Pneumonia, an illness from which he would not fully recover. He agreed to sell his remaining flock of sheep, retaining just two of the now retired racehorses that he bred. Horse racing was a constant throughout his life, culminating with his breeding of the filly’s Macreater and Silver Challenge, with which he had winners and several places at Towcester, Perth, Southwell and Market Rasen. And it is because of his passion and close involvement with horse racing, as a jockey, breeder and owner, that he chose the injured jockey’s fund for donations. My father was skilled in finding solutions to almost all challenges and problems encountered around the farm, be they animal-related, mechanical or electrical. And his experiences growing up during the austere 1930s and in wartime, where nothing was thrown away in case it might be needed in future, had a profound affect on him, and many others of that generation - a quality which remained with him throughout his life, he never threw anything away! Nigel was quite a unique character; honest, trusting, helpful and always willing give advice or lend a hand to his friends and neighbours. And he was fortunate to have good friends and neighbours in Gunthorpe and the wider farming community – it’s heartening to see so many here with us today. Sadly, last month, Dad died in Hospital. And the loss that my sister Theresa and I now feel, is of course, immeasurable. In terms of fitness, he belied his years - fit, strong, able, and was never unwell until the very end – a fixture at the farm, and someone who could always be relied upon. His death, coming so soon after the loss of our dear mother Joyce, last July, leaves a void that we find very difficult to fathom at this time. We are comforted by your presence here and online, with us today, and hope that Nigel is now with Mum again, at peace and at rest. Thank you Dad – we will never forget you.