No. 202


OSB Logo The Old St Beghian
  January 2023

 

Jane Sarjeant has kindly submitted the following regarding her late father.

Derek Scott (F 42-48).


Obit - Derek Scott

“Dad was born in Bradford in 1930. After attending local schools until the age of fourteen, in 1944 he was sent away to St Bees School. There followed (in my father’s words) ‘four really good and enjoyable years’ during which time he founded the school Photographic Society, and played rugby for the first team. On summer days off, he would join friends to cycle to the Lakeland fells.

After leaving St Bees in 1948, he spent 18 months doing National Service with the Royal Signals. Rugby again played a large part in his life and he was chosen to play for the Signals along with other top players, winning the Army Cup in 1948.
After National Service, he was accepted for Cambridge – he thought due to his rugby success rather than any great academic ability! There followed (in his words) ‘three marvellous years’, first studying economics and then law, and playing rugby for the Selwyn College first team. He met and married my mother Noreen, and had a son and two daughters.

He qualified as a solicitor in 1957 and became a partner with a firm in Bradford. Dad commuted three days a week to Bradford by car and steam train for several years until the family moved to Troutbeck in the Lake District.  Subsequently he was offered a partnership in Ambleside.

He took part in many motorsport events in the 1950s and early sixties, and won a number of them, including the Mini-Monte in 1954 and 1955.

He always had a sense of adventure and a love of all things speedy – especially cars, horses and boats. He competed in many vintage car hill climbs in his 1938 Riley Sprite – without doubt his favourite car.
 
Dad was very involved in Troutbeck village. He was proud to serve as Mayor of Troutbeck; he was Manager of Troutbeck School and served as a Trustee of the Troutbeck Institute for many years. In 1972 he took over as secretary to the Governors of St Anne’s School, then he became a Governor and Vice Chairman until 2000. When I was at school, I would often see him walking the corridors with the Headmaster, deep in conversation.

Obit - Derek Scott

In 1975 mum and dad bought the very run down Wateredge Hotel in Ambleside. It was in a poor state when they took it over, so we all spent the summer clearing the rubbish and the hotel was renovated to a high standard. It was soon considered to be one of the best hotels in the Lake District, and dad was always extremely proud of an article in an American newspaper showing the best 25 Hotels in England. There were two in Cumbria. The Sharrow Bay on Ullswater and our Wateredge!

Their chapter came to a close with their divorce, so dad immersed himself in all things work-related and the running of the hotel, and this was how he met Catherine, his second wife.

It wasn’t long before they were married. They had a son in 1985 and a daughter five years later.

The next few years were spent with his young family watching him compete in time trials and hill climbs all over the country with the Vintage Sports Car Club.

There never seemed to be a dull moment with dad at home, either. There was always an old car to fix in the shed after a long day at the office, or work in the woods to do on a grey Sunday afternoon. His vegetable garden was a source of great pleasure and he could be found pottering in there until his very last days.

He remained committed to his work as a solicitor until his retirement in his eighties, often going well out of his way for clients and spending long hours at his desk on a mission to get the fairest results on cases big and small.

Dad was a proud family man, always celebrating successes and encouraging us through our low points, and always delighted to welcome new arrivals. He had a boyish enthusiasm for so many interests.

He was aware of his fortunate circumstances and this gave him a real desire to do his best for others. His generous-spirited and trusting nature will live on in us in the years to come.”

 

 

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