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== See Also ==
*[[:Boston Grammar School 1939 (Part 5 of 8)]]

Revision as of 19:51, 10 January 2021

John Ashton Tinkler

John Tinkler (aged 65)
Born 4 September 1925(1925-09-04)
Boston
Died 25 December 2020(2020-12-25) (aged 95)
St Teresa's Nursing Home, Corston
Other names Johnnie
Education Boston Grammar School (1937-1942)
Occupation Civil Engineer
Employer Black Sluice IDB; River Ouse (Yorks) Catchment Board; Wear and Tees River Board; Ministry of Agriculture; Yorkshire River Authority
Spouse Audrey Jean Gill
Children Jonathan; Jeremy
Parents Albert Cyril Tinkler; Phoebe May Tinkler

John Ashton Tinkler was educated at Boston Grammar School (1937-1942).

Obituary

Written by his son, Jeremy Tinkler

John Tinkler, known to most as "Johnnie", was born in Boston, Lincs on 4th September 1925, to Albert Cyril (a solicitor's clerk) and Phoebe May Tinkler.

At the age of three, he had to go into hospital in London to have surgery on his leg. As well as the pain of the surgery, in those days parents were not allowed to stay, and it was too far to visit from Boston, so he was alone in hospital for three weeks. Fortunately this experience did not leave any psychological scars, although he always remembered it clearly.

John attended Boston Grammar School from 1937 to 1942. While still at school aged 14, he encountered his future wife Audrey Jean Gill (daughter of William and Jean Gill) and the two very soon became an "item", to the disapproval of Audrey's father. Audrey was fortunate at this time to have a female friend, Jean Johnson, also nicknamed "Johnny", and so was able to go on dates with John unsuspected, by stating quite honestly that she was "going to the pictures with Johnnie". Eventually their two mothers met by accident, in a queue for ration books, and after discussion decided to give their blessing to the match.

During the war John was too young to serve, but joined the Air Training Corps while still at school, and became the squadron's Flight Sergeant. One duty of his rank was to teach Morse code to 20 girls of the Girls Training Corps – a task enjoyed by all!

He left school at 16, not because of any lack of educational achievement, but because he wanted to get started on his engineering career. He became an articled pupil of a chartered civil engineer for three years, while at the same time doing a correspondence course to study for the Institution of Civil Engineers examinations, or "Civils", which he passed in 1946. In those days of course, University was not the recognised route to becoming a professional engineer. John then became a member of the ICE (later a Fellow) and obtained a position as Assistant Engineer for the River Ouse (Yorks) Catchment Board.

Audrey had had to move with her parents to Chesterfield in 1942, so they were only able to see each other (John travelling by train) once every 6 weeks for several years, but once John had qualified and obtained a position, they became engaged – John "popping the question" in Harrods on a day trip to London.

John married Audrey on Saturday 21st June 1947, at St Botolph's Church (the famous "Boston Stump"). The honeymoon was spent on tour in Scotland. Afterwards the couple returned to live in Doncaster. Audrey worked for the National Coal Board during this time.

In 1952 John obtained a position with Wear and Tees River Board and the couple moved to Wikipedia:Newton Aycliffe near Darlington. Here their two sons were born, Jonathan in 1953 and Jeremy in 1955. Money was very tight, so in 1956 they made the decision to accept a colonial posting in Nigeria. John travelled out first on the liner "Aureol" of the Elder Dempster Line, and Audrey joined him later on, flying out in a BOAC Argonaut on a 14-hour flight with two very young children. John worked on irrigation schemes (inevitably known by the locals as "Tinkler's Sprinklers") in two two-year tours, initially in the rather pestilent environment of Bida, but finally moving to Jos on the northern plateau, with a much more European climate. They participated fully in the colonial social circles and made many lasting friendships.

Although Audrey had been successfully "home schooled" Jonathan using resources from the Parents' National Educational Union, it was clear that they would need to return to the UK so that the two boys could start school. In 1960 they sailed back on the "Apapa"[1] cruise ship via the Canary Islands. John found a job as Senior Assistant Engineer at the Yorkshire River Authority and the family moved to Doncaster again for two years.

After being turned down for a job application in 1963, for the first and only time, because he looked "too young", John grew an RAF-style moustache, which he kept until 1976. It must have worked because he soon obtained a promotion to Divisional Engineer (Aire & Calder) in the Leeds office.

In Leeds they lived in the northern suburb of Roundhay, first in a fairly standard 50's semi-detached, and then (in 1970) moving to an Edwardian house on a tree-lined avenue not far away - which John proceeded to redecorate from top to bottom. During this time John worked on the design of several important weirs and flood relief schemes in the area, notably those in Mytholmroyd and Dewsbury, which put an end to the misery caused by the regular flooding in those towns. Audrey, meanwhile, qualified as a teacher and taught for several years, at a primary school in Leeds with a high number of underprivileged children.

By 1974 both sons had moved on to University, and following the reorganization of the Water Industry in that year, John decided to go for another promotion, this time as Land Drainage Manager at Wessex River Authority, later to become Wessex Water. The new office was in Bristol but, following a visit to nearby Bath and seeing the Royal Crescent, John and Audrey decided to settle there instead, and bought the house in Cranwells Park where they both happily lived out the rest of their years. John was a key figure in the proposed Severn Barrage power station project, though this was eventually abandoned, to the great detriment of the environment.

John retired aged 63, in 1988, following the privatisation of the water industry of which he never approved. He undertook a number of private engineering consultancy projects which provided a useful top up to the Civil Service pension. In earlier years he had been keen on country rambles, dinghy sailing (Enterprise class) and fly fishing, but after retirement (and despite a minor heart attack at 65), he concentrated on his favourite sport, regularly playing tennis at the local club (where he served as President), until he was 80 and had to stop after a knee replacement.

During his retirement John also followed up his interest in photography and film making, buying some cutting edge video editing hardware and providing a video making service (later a DVD making service) for the various family gatherings and weddings that were taking place around that time. The pair kept very busy, helping with grandchildren and embarking on several river and ocean cruises (also immortalised on DVD). They went on several trips organized by the Wessex Water retirement association, and Audrey was active in the Townswomen's Guild, and the Corona Society[2] for ex-colonials.

A major highlight of this period was in 1992 when John was asked to help organize the Duke of Edinburgh's Commonwealth Study Conference in the South West Region. This involved meetings with several important politicians of the day and even a lunch hosted by HRH Prince Philip. Audrey was also heavily involved as a volunteer coordinator.

John was dealt a heavy blow in 2014 with the loss of his beloved wife to pancreatic cancer, after 66 years of happy marriage; followed only a couple of years later by a diagnosis of Alzheimer's which meant he had to stop driving. Despite this, thanks to amazing support from a number of people including his gardener and home helper, he was able to continue to live at his beloved home and enjoy his splendid back garden, which won several awards in the annual Bath in Bloom competition. He made many friends in the community, and in the local Church, being noted for his smart turnout, kindness and easy affability.

COVID-19 made John's final year difficult, as his age and condition meant he had to be shielded in isolation, and all his favourite regular social events were curtailed. He was admitted to hospital in early November following complications from his Alzheimer's, but due to his frailty he was not able to make the hoped-for recovery, and he died in St Teresa's Nursing Home[3] in Corston, on Christmas Day. He is survived by his two sons and three grandchildren.

Notes

  • Previous records of the Old Bostonian Association suggested that John was at BGS from 1936 to 1941. Since John was born near the start of September it seems that either option is possible; we have therefore assumed his son, Jeremy to be correct with 1937-1942.

External links

References

See Also