George Watts

George, along with his brother Peter, was born and raised in Sheffield.  During his teenage years his parents became licensees of a public house, The Victoria Hotel, in Cudworth near Barnsley.

Almost 55 years ago George was in a coffee bar/disco called The Hub where he happened to meet Lesley (the days before Tinder).  They pretty soon became an item and spent all their spare time together, marrying just a year later.  

Although very young, they loved building a home together and soon welcomed two children, Maxine and George.  George took having a family very, very seriously and was determined to succeed on providing for them.  He worked extremely hard grabbing any available overtime that he could, gaining the nickname ‘King Edward’, because, apparently, he was underground longer than a potato!  He studied and gained his Deputy’s ticket and became, I believe, the youngest Deputy in the Country at the age of 23.  

Family life meant everything to George. Lesley’s parents had introduced him to Scotland where he enjoyed lots of holidays in the great outdoors and his love of nature grew.  In 1984 the family moved to Owston Ferry where the rural setting meant he could fully enjoy his love of outdoor sports, dogs, and also encourage Maxine and George to appreciate the good life.  Chickens, a goat, and even two hives of bees, soon followed.

In time, and within just two years, four grandchildren arrived!!   George relished his role of Grandad to Ellie, Sam, Jimmy and Harry and spent time guiding them to enjoy nature, country sports, and to fully appreciate their freedom to roam.  George loved looking after the Grandchildren during the school holidays and carefully planned their schedule of activities for the day and their lunches. One day, during a family barbecue, the little ones were becoming restless so Grandad gave each of them a torch to go and search for fairies pointing out that they would glimpse them out of the corner of their eye. We were all amazed when they reported back excitedly that that had actually seen some in the corner of the garden! It is still referred to as the fairy corner.

George was extremely proud of Maxine and George’s strong marriages and the way that they brought up their children to be the decent, independent young adults that they are today and would have liked to think that he also had a big influence on them all.

As retirement came along there were no big plans, no bucket list, at all.  George and Lesley, as always, were content with life in general. Days were spent pottering in the garden, cooking lovely meals, going down to the allotment or doing crafts and projects together in the workshop where they sat around the wood burner to discuss what they’d be making next.  Nights were often spent together in the hot tub with a glass of wine and some music.  Absolute bliss! 

George will certainly be missed.