THE funeral takes place next week of well-known West Somerset figure John Addicott, who died on January 5, aged 83.

Mr Addicott’s funeral will be held in The Priory Church of St George, Dunster, on Friday February 7, at 2pm.

He was born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire and gained his first experience of West Somerset through family holidays in Doniford.

Leaving school aged 15, he used to cycle six miles each way to work on a local farm feeding pigs and helping with cattle.

Aged 18, he was accepted in 1959 by Moreton Morrell Agricultural College, near Warwick, where he gained a General Certificate in Agriculture.

After college, and inspired by his father, who always wanted him become an auctioneer, Mr Addicott took a job as a clerk with Messrs John Margetts and Sons, of Warwick, an agricultural valuers and auctioneers which ran Warwick and Leamington Stock Sales.

He would often say: “I don’t know how my dad got me that job, but he did.”

In his early 20s, during a holiday to West Somerset, the family met Sid Rich, the harbourer for the Quantock Staghounds, and he struck up a friendship and would go out harbouring at dawn on many occasions, an experience which led to his love of the countryside.

Through Mr Rich, in the mid-1960s, Mr Addicott went to work for Taunton-based Messrs Morris, Sons and Peard, land agents, valuers, and auctioneers, where he continued auctioneering and completed his chartered surveying exams.

During this time he lodged on the Pike farm in Stogumber, which further fuelled his affection for West Somerset, and had a working relationship and friendship with Major Tom Trollope-Bellew overseeing the management of the Crowcombe Estate.

The major upon retirement asked Mr Addicott to master the Crowcombe Beagles, a role he held for many years jointly with John Price.

He then moved to work in Dorset, but the pull of West Somerset brought him back to the area and in 1974 he joined Chanin and Thomas, in Minehead, eventually buying the business and opening branches in Williton, Porlock, and Nether Stowey, assisted by David Lethaby, until retirement and a sale to Greenslade Taylor Hunt in 2017.

Mr Addicott was treasurer of Dunster Show for 30 years, involved with Dunster Cricket Club, a bell ringer in Dunster Church, and a supporter of Minehead Cricket Club (MCC) where he helped when a new pavilion was built, and was a sponsor of Somerset County Cricket Club.

He once took a hat-trick for MCC in a mid-week game and as recently as last year ran a fund-raising auction for the club.

Mr Addicott enjoyed hunting with the West Somerset Beagles and regularly ran the Beulah Chapel annual auction, and was a Rotary member.

He skittled for Likely Lads, supported Aston Villa at football, and later in life grew an affection for Bristol Rovers due to regular outings with his friend Gerald Hosegood.

One of his close friends said: “It was a real pleasure to know such an exuberant and likeable character.”