It’s with a heavy heart that we have to post about my Dad’s passing on the 18th of August 2022. As many of you gleaned from his daily dose of poems he was a man with a wicked sense of humour, who loved his dogs and his family. The following poems written by us, his sons are a small tribute to him and though he’d have the rhyming dictionary out tutting at the prose (we are claiming Yorkshire rhyming – if it worked for him, it’d work for us). Finally just to say thank you to everyone who read/ enjoyed his work on here. If it made one person smile then that would have meant the world to him. – Love James and John
John
Born in Bradford, the eldest of five,
A policeman for most of his life.
Married to Dot, the best of the lot,
He lived for his kids, cricket, and wife.
Forty-five years, happily married,
Two sons that he frequently carried.
A favourite grandson, in whom he lives on,
He was immensely proud of his tribe.
A new adventure in France was a thrill,
This man was never one to stand still.
Cycling, dog grooming, degrees, poems, reading, fishing and golf, to name but a few,
How he fit it all in, no one knew.
Like me he loved dogs more than folk,
A definite Labrador bloke.
Perfect days spent walking his hounds,
A curry, a pint, homeward bound.
He knew the Beatles and Stones are the best,
Watched the Open, Test matches, all the rest.
America, Canada, and Australia are part of his history,
A humble, straight-up-and-down man, no mystery.
Troubles he took in his stride,
And rudeness he could not abide.
A kind, polite, generous man,
Always actioning the plan.
Although we are sad that you’re gone,
Through us you will always live on.
For having known you we’ll always be glad.
Thank you, love you, Dad.
James
So the final Hobbo has fallen to us
Though if you had it your way they’d be no bloody fuss
Just get it over, then go have a pint
I’m up here with the dogs, I’m doing allright
But seriously Dad you know we can’t let it go
We loved you so much and need you to know
So here’s a few words to our father, our friend
The story of a life, we never wanted to end
Born in the fifties
To Derek and Margaret’s delight and applause
Though when you cut your head open
Nan made you change your drawers
The eldest of five
It fell to you to set the way
So you shouldn’t have come home from school
After an hour of the first day
Still you were quite the scholar
Attracted the moniker Snobby
Though you lost that in time
And just became our Hobby
Following in familiar footsteps
You became PC 2518
Earmarked for the top
Until asked, what periodicals you take
Still wasn’t all bad,
you met your Dot
Of all your achievements
She topped the lot
But How to impress her
First date, make a dish?
Bugger that Hobbo, you’re from Yorkshire
Take her to fish
A month you courted
You knew a good thing
Get up Bolton Abbey
And get out that ring
Though you took a detour
To Ma Wartons to beg
For her daughters hand to marriage
Yes, obviously Stephen, now, is it bacon with that egg
The wedding duly followed
Held all Warton in a thrawl
Not so much for the dress
As to see, your car in the wall
2 years elapsed
Then James came along
You never learnt your lesson
As, 18 month later, here was our John
You gave us the best childhood
That boys ever had
Everything was magical
Because you were our Dad
When Ben was born
He was already blest
His life had the groondude
Who he thought was the best
Retirement beckoned
You hung up your pips
See you later England
Dot? Are these french fries my chips
And what a few years it was
To auvoir from tally ho
Not without hiccups
Dot? Are all bridges this low
You missed our Ben, so
Enough is enough
And you came back to Burnley
And drive the kids in a bus
We never told you
But we were glad you were here
Golf, walks in the park
Creating memories we’ll hold so dear
Not that it stopped your travels
Jetting off to foreign ports
Even Claridges for tea
Though we won’t mention the shorts
Then we had the poetry
The cult of Hobbo
A daily dose to uplift us
From a man we were lucky to know
Your passing was too quick
It left us all reeling
But your three dogs were in heaven
And Dauphie needed feeding
But we’re down here
And we look to the sky
Saying goodbye to the greatest
A smile for the memories, yet a tear in eye
As a father, husband, grandad
Thanks for everything you did
We’ll love you forever
In our hearts you’ll always live
Hobbo's Poems 