ONE of the founding members of Oxford City Athletic Club, Philip Porter, has died age 86.

Mr Porter was thought to be the last surviving member of the original group that formed the popular club in 1946.

He won numerous races, regularly representing Oxfordshire, and was still competing well into his forties.

He also made many trips to the Dutch town of Leiden, to meet the athletes and compete against them as part of a cultural exchange with one of Oxford’s twin towns.

Philip George Porter was born on November 8, 1928, in Wroughton near Swindon.

His parents were William Porter, a butler, and Kate Porter – née Nash – who worked as a cook.

He had two siblings, William, 89, and Moira, his twin sister.

Mr Porter grew up in Lechlade, attending the local primary school. He then moved to New Marston in Oxford with his parents and siblings and attended St John’s School for boys in Cowley.

Mr Porter took an apprenticeship at Holywell Printers and before going on to work for Oxford University Press in Walton Street. He also worked at Nuffield Press for a short spell.

He never married but had a long-term partner, Anne Burke, of Letcombe Regis near Wantage, who died in 2002. They lived together in Letcombe Regis and then in Main Street, Grove. The couple had no children.

Mr Porter’s passions included the YMCA, where he boxed, and also cross country and long distance running. He played hockey for OUP during the early 1960s.

He was also a lifelong follower of Oxford United and a big dog lover, often taking in rescue animals.

Aged 17, Mr Porter would attend meetings of the Oxford City Athletic Club at the Wheatsheaf pub in High Street.

He would often tell his family that, at such a young age, he was not supposed to be in the pub and was only allowed at the insistence of well-known Oxford athlete Monty Hillier.

His passion for the club meant that only recently he was thinking of plans for the group’s 70th anniversary party for 2016.

Mr Porter died on October 29 after suffering a stroke. His funeral was on Monday at South Oxfordshire Crematorium.

He is survived by his brother and sister, a niece and two nephews, and Miss Burke’s children from a previous relationship.