Firstly we we must apologise for the delay in posting this sad news.

DAVID COCKRAM: A MAN OF BEER.

David, who died suddenly on 22nd November of last year, joined Camra in the early 80s and remained a committed member until his death. David was a Devon man, as he said of himself "a man of Beer", the small fishing village of his birth. He grew up in nearby Seaton, and his parents, his extended family of brothers and sisters, their husbands and wives, and nieces and nephews, not forgetting the small and homely town itself, were his emotional bedrock throughout his life. Legendary were the stories of his visits back "home" when he enjoyed drinking once more in the pubs of his youth.

But Seaton was too small a town to keep him; he signed on as an apprentice in the helicopter firm at Yeovil and became a highly qualified aeronautical engineer. He was a man who loved life: he spent many weekends exploring the caves of the Mendips during the day and the cider pubs at night; he travelled across Europe first by bike and then by car, and then decided that Europe was too small for him and volunteered to teach motor mechanics to village youngsters at a Catholic mission station in the remote "bush" of Tanzania. Tusker was the national brew and when at times, as it often did, deliveries to the local bars failed, there was always the local pombe, brewed from maize, unfiltered and very definitely a taste to be acquired. David acquired the taste, On his return he decided to train as a teacher, and then went to Nigeria for three years, teaching engineering in a technical college. He was also responsible for the water supplies for which he turned successfully to a water diviner, and nearly as importantly, for the staff bar.

Back in England he found himself a job teaching at the technical college, as it was then, in Grimsby, studied further at Middleborough University to gain a MSc, and for the last years of his life was a senior lecturer at Hull University. Grimsby was now his second home and drinking good beer was one of his particular pleasures. He became a life member of Camra - the best bargain he ever made, he used to say - hardly ever missed the monthly meetings and was an enthusiastic regular on the coach trips to the pubs and breweries of rural Lincolnshire and further afield , which were what he most enjoyed.. He was the auditor of the local branch for many years and volunteered many times as a judge for the annual pub of the year awards.

Fell walking was also one of his passions; he was the chairman of the Grimsby Fell Walking Club for well over thirty years, broadening the horizons of seasoned and unseasoned walkers alike. He was a man who had a gift for friendship, and leadership, was witty and mischievous. had a deep love of mountains and the world around him and often lit up an evening in the pubs with his love of jokes and japes and song. Truly he was A Man Of Beer but he was much more besides. He will be sorely missed.

Raymond Egerton.

Note: this is a tribute to David with permission of the author. The article is available in the magazine.

https://indd.adobe.com/view/248eb7d2-3f4a-475e-ac67-ea71f9fcc6a2