‘A Knight in shining armour’ – what better epitaph for a man universally loved and respected by those who knew him.
Robert Langrish, farmer, ‘Odd-Job Boy’ and rural raconteur, of Pickney Bush Farm near Newchurch, passed away on April 23 after a long battle with cancer.
The son of a Sussex farmer, Robert started farming with the family at Beckley, near Rye, having attended Plumpton Agricultural College in the late 60s.
“He was always mechanically minded and drove a number of very fast cars” remembers brother Frank. One such car was a brand new RS1600. That particular year, Rye Young Farmers reached the finals of the YF bowling tournament, held in Manchester. “Robert drove us there” said Frank. “After that, for some reason, we decided to go to Newcastle, via Carlisle on the new M6 motorway. It would be about 117 miles. We did it in an hour!”
A confirmed ‘petrol head’, Robert enjoyed a number of driving jobs including delivering Gilbern Genie cars from the factory in South Wales to Rye. He drove a lorry for Jempsons and was one of the last people to drive into the old Covent Garden market. Another adventure saw him driving a Bedford Duple coach from London to India and back. A three-month journey, one of the COMEX, Commonwealth Institute Expeditions, took him through what was then Yugoslavia, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and into India.
He first met future wife, Helen, at a local young farmers horse show. “He was chatting to my mum by the lorry when I returned from the ring. When he found out I could drive a lorry, I think I scored an extra 50 points” said Helen.
She met him again in Ashford market “And it went from there” she said. They married in 1978 and Robert moved to Helen’s family farm at Pickney Bush, on Romney Marsh.
“Robert did all our livestock transporting” recalls Helen. “He was always on the road.” Summer would see Robert driving to county and agricultural shows where Helen was a successful show rider and their pedigree Romney sheep would come away with handfuls of red rosettes. “He loved the showing”.
Having hunted from an early age with the East Sussex and Romney Marsh Hunt, it was the East Kent Hunt who benefitted once Robert had moved to Pickney Bush.
“He took my show horse one day” said Helen, “When I was pregnant with James, our son. I couldn’t do anything about it!”
“Rob was an absolute gentleman” said EKWS Hunt Master, Suze Gibson. “He rarely missed a day out on the Marsh and supported the hunt in so many ways. He spent many afternoons showing me the country and helped to plan countless trail days.
“We would ‘walk’ the country on Rob’s quad bike. The one space on the back would be constantly battled between ‘Gilly’, his beloved terrier, and myself. ‘Gilly’ once forgot her position as Land Owner’s Dog and jumped off the quad to join the hounds in full flight! Rob was at the very heart of the hunt and really was, ‘Master of the Marsh’.”
Maggie Owen, from Eastbridge, has always referred to Robert as her Knight in Shining Armour. “He’d come charging back whenever anyone had a minor dilemma out hunting” she said.
“He’s the only man I’ve known who could tell two or three tales at once..but needed the odd reminder where he’d got to on each one! A great fun man, full of bonhomie.”
“He was a quite extraordinary man” said long-time friend and fellow farmer, Stephen Furnival.
“He knew everyone. He knew his way all around the Marsh. He’d never let you down and whatever was happening, he’d always be the last to go home. We shall all miss him desperately”.
“He called himself the ‘Odd-Job Man’, said Helen. “But he was so much more than that. He was the very backbone of both our family and the business”.
Robert is survived by wife Helen, son James and daughter Claire.
Robert Langrish : June 1949 – April 2020.
Image Credits: Chris Lawson .