RIP "Val"

[William 29]

Val will be truly missed, good fire safety officer and friend.

[nearlythere]

What's the story here William?

[William 29]

Did you know him?

[William 29]

Val battled with a illness for over 12 months, the funeral was 30th November.   

[Tom Sutton]

William I am afraid he was only a user name to me but his contributions to this forum was excellent could you give us a potted history for those that didn't know him personally. Will be sadly missed.

[black arts2]

RIP Val

[kurnal]

Val battled with a illness for over 12 months, the funeral was 30th November.  

William please confirm that this posting is genuine. Whilst if true we would be pleased to receive and pay  tribute to one of our valued contributors, there may be some error here with regard to date? 30 November?

[William 29]

Sorry that date should read 30th September, sorry for the confusion!  Val left LFB in 1990 to join GM Fire Service where he retired on ill health as Group Fire Safety Manager last year.  He was influential at a high level in the national fire safety scene including the ODPM and had input in to the HM Gov guides and in particular the LACoRS guide (although don’t blame him for all the content though!)

He was a very knowledgeable fire safety officer and generally a nice guy, it will be sad not to see his views on the forum anymore.

[kurnal]

Thanks William. Like many of us I never met or knew Val other than through his postings which were always helpful,  moderate, well considered, well argued and well informed.

On behalf of Firenet I would offer our sincere sympathy and condolences to all his family and friends.

[colin todd]

Are we talking about Paul Dryden???

[William 29]

We are.

[colin todd]

I knew he had passed away, but did not learn of the fact from a chum in LFEPA until after the funeral. If I had known I would have dashed up for it. Coincidentally, I am right now in the Hilton Manchester, which is the last place I had a drink with Paul. It made me sad just to drive up to the building as I immediately thought of saying goodbye to him at the entrance.

I have always liked Paul.  I first met him at a meeting with his bosses, one of whom behaved with such crass arrogance that I and the client walked out.  Paul showed us out and was embarrassed and apologetic for the whole thing. I remember telling him not to worry, but that he should take it as a lesson that if you want to progress to the higher echelons of the fire service behave like a *****.  Happily Paul never took that advice, and was one the most likable chaps in fire safety. We kept in touch after that, and I had a drink with him when in Manchester.

I kept meaning to get in touch with him, but never had the opportunity of time in GMC.  I just wish I had managed to have one last drink with him.

He will be greatly missed, but he never did tell me that he was Val.  I hope that the fact I never found out gives him a chuckle as he looks down from the better place to which I am sure he has gone.

If you know his family, Willie will you please pass on my condolences.

[William 29]

Thanks Colin, sad storey that.  I would love to know who the senior officer was, I can guess and that would be typical of Paul to be embarrassed at the comments made.  I didn’t know the family at all I'm afraid.

I was hoping to get to the conference in Manchester but the pressures of work have beaten me, the debate would have been interesting and it would have been good to meet you, maybe another time.

William

[Wiz]

Nice post, C.T.