Villagers in Sproatley say they have lost their ‘Google of Holderness’ after former Mayor and councillor Harry Buck passed away
Harry Buck in his mayoral robes – he was mayor of Sproatley for almost 50 years(Image: David Harper)
A village will come to a standstill next week for a procession of vintage tractors ahead of the funeral of a much-loved former farm worker, councillor and former Mayor of Holderness. Villagers in Sproatley have told the family of Harry Buck that they have “lost their Google of Holderness”, after the long-serving councillor passed away on New Year’s Day, aged 96.
In a fitting tribute to Harry, who spent 49 years as a farm worker and advocated rural life and nature throughout his life, tractors from farms around the area will take part in a cortege ahead of the hearse through Sproatley.
Nephew David Harper told how his uncle left school at 14 to go straight into the working world, having been shown how to drive a green Massey Harris Pacemaker tractor at 12. He spent his entire life as a farm worker for the Caley family, and when he left after 49 years, he was given a long service award from the Yorkshire Show Society for his services to agriculture.
But villagers might remember him best for his civic roles, as a councillor and the former mayor of Holderness. He served as an independent parish councillor for Sproatley for over 45 years, stood as an independent councillor for Holderness Borough Council. Meanwhile, 1991 marked a very proud moment when he was elected Mayor of Holderness, with his sister Doreen Harper as Mayoress.
David said: “He was born on a farm in Burton Constable in 1929 called Pasture House and lived there 82 years, only moving when he bought a bungalow in the village that looked down onto the farm and fields as well, so he could keep an eye on it.
“When he left school at 14, as was the custom back then, he started on the farm the following week and spent the next 50 years working on the same farm. Way back when he started it was still heavy horses and he ploughed with horses, and as machinery came in, he enjoyed the change to tractors and to combine harvesters.
“Farming is a way of life – it’s not just a job – and it was very much part of him, looking after the countryside and enjoying what was going on in the fields. He wrote for many years for Sproatley Life Magazine as ‘The Countryman’ and they were always very gentle, warm and nostalgic pieces trying to express his interest in the countryside and trying to get more people interested in it as well, with his anecdotes and nostalgia, the birds he could see, the changing of the seasons.
“In the 1970s, he volunteered to be a borough councillor for Holderness and for the parish in Sproatley – and that led to him being put forward to be Mayor of Holderness in 1991, with my mum Doreen Harper as Mayoress and they covered around 200 events that year. Lots of tree plantings, openings, civic events and school visits.
“He wanted to be a help to the community. Lots of people were going to him for advice anyway so he volunteered to be that step between the village and local government. A few people stood against him over the years but he was never beaten and it was always a landslide victory.
“And he enjoyed every single bit of it and was still working on the farm at the time so would often change from farming gear into the scarlet robes to go to something very official. He loved meeting people from different backgrounds and different ages and had a real knack for being friends with people right across the spectrum of ages throughout his life. He was still very young of heart right until the end.
“He only stood down when he was 90 or 91. And he was a tour guide at Burton Hall, still going to work being able to pass on history.
“The village when he passed away said they’d lost the Google of the village – he knew more than anyone about the area, the families, how it had changed over the years, the comings and goings, so there’s a big gap in knowledge there now.”
The family wanted to make a nod to Harry’s farming past, and after calling round a number of farms there will be five vintage tractors leading the funeral cortege through the village ahead of the funeral service, which is taking place at 1.30pm on Monday, February 2, at St Swithin’s Church.
David added: “Harry liked things that were a little bit cheeky – he had a great sense of fun so he would think it would be fitting and quite fun to see. It will go from his bungalow down to the farm and then come back through the older part of the village, to the church. I imagine it will be a packed church – he knew so many people.
“He was very much the working man and voice of the people who rose to become the Mayor of Holderness. On his gravestone he’s requested the words ‘A country man and friend to all’.”