Herbert Green THE funeral of a former Didcot and Wallingford railwayman, Herbert 'Jack' Green, has taken place.

Mr Green, of Lime Kiln Cottages, Old Burghclere, near Newbury, died at North Hampshire Hospital, Basingstoke, aged 87. He was a frequent contributor to the letters' column of the Herald Series.

Born in Didcot, he joined the Great Western Railway in the 1920s and was a porter at Didcot, Wallingford and at Old Burghclere, on the former Didcot-Newbury-Southampton line.

He subsequently went on to train signalmen, and received an official commendation for his extensive knowledge of safety regulations, procedures and track layouts.

As many of his letters showed, Mr Green continued to keep himself abreast of developments on the railways in his retirement.

But his interests and opinions on subjects went beyond the railways, from potholes in the roads around his home, to all manner of topical issues in and around Didcot. He also retained vivid memories of troops returning from D-day by train.

Mr Green took up many campaigns in the area, including doing battle with British Telecom when he and his wife, Marjorie, were left without a telephone after it developed a fault.