It was with great sadness that we learnt of the passing of one of Hartley Wintney's true characters on Friday February 16. Our thoughts are with Bob's wife Caroline and the family at this difficult time.

Bob moved away from his roots in the Midlands to Hartley Wintney in 1978, but first played cricket for HWCC in 1975, regularly gracing The Green with other luminaries such as Mark Porter, Steve Greaves, Don Lynch and Terry Plume. His talents extended over the other side of the boundary rope as well - Bob was a fearsome opponent when it came to sinking a pint, a skill set he continued to demonstrate well after he had hung up his pads!

In 1990 the Club explored the opportunity of organising its first ever overseas tour and who better to dispatch to the sunshine island of Barbados than BJF. Although this involved an arduous appraisal of grounds, hotels and bar facilities, he didn't make a single complaint - the tour took place in October of 1990 and was, unsurprisingly, a resounding success.

In 1995 the then President, Bill Mitchell, handed over the reins to Bob and with Chairman Greaves he formed a partnership that was to guide the club to great success on and off the field for the next two decades.

At the turn of the century, Bob was introduced to Shuan Udal at the Wagon; this led to a question and answer session at the Club with both Shaun and Robin Smith keeping the membership entertained well into the early hours. The rest is history - in 2002, with the help of Richard Sanders, HWCC hosted a Hampshire Select XI for Shaun's Benefit Year. Richard and Bob have repeated this magnificent occasion up until the current day and their influence is still there with our current plans for this year’s Benefit Match on June 28.

In 2020 Bob, along with Pete Martin, authored and edited a book to mark the 250th Anniversary of HWCC (a must read) and in 2021 he presided over a memorable dinner at Lords as part of the same celebrations.

Bob was also an enthusiastic Trout tourist and his colourful character was seen in Cornwall on at least 20 occasions....albeit our hosts never really witnessed his extraordinary talents with bat and ball in hand!

But Bob's prowess also extended to other sporting venues. He was instrumental in the transformation of Farnborough RFC from RAE Rugby Club and the move to Tile Barn Close in 1978. Having played for many years, he was elected as Club President, which he dutifully served from 1986 to 1989.

To the last Bob was an active 'Groundhog' at HWCC and his efforts in preparing and maintaining wickets on The Green will be sorely missed.

We are all the richer for having had the opportunity to befriend Bob and he leaves us a legacy of some truly wonderful memories - we will never see the likes of him again!

RIP BJF

HWCC Committee