David Rowley – Obituary

David, Rowlie or Bald Eagle (cb call sign), was born in Withersfield 13th April 1943  where he grew up within a family of tenant farmers as was very common in those days.  His father Frank and most of his many uncles farmed for the Vestey estate or Thurlow estates as it is known today.

David was not one for school and spent many hours counting the bricks of the wall in the entrance hall with his hands on his head at his primary school in Withersfield (now the village hall) and rarely attended secondary school preferring to spend time in Howe woods. He later found out he had dyslexia which explained his struggles although he was never a great one for listening to authority!

David and his wife Ruth moved to Farley Green Farm on the Wickhambrook/Stradishall border in the early 1970s.  The farm was in need of some tlc so they were offered the tenancy free of charge for the first couple of years and David made the farmhouse into their home as well as farming the land.  His 3 sons, Tim, Jason and Ben all attended Wickhambrook Primary School. The local scouts had regular jamboree get togethers in the paddock at Farley.

David and his brother Colin built up quite a large business, Rowlinson Plant Hire which was very well known in Haverhill and employed 80 people in its heyday.  It was their company that made a huge contribution to the current playing field in Wickhambrook by infilling the lower lying land, up to 18ft in places. The 6 acres that was purchased by the Community Association in the 70s was at all differing levels. Several ideas were discussed to utilise this ground, but after a few beers in the pub, David made the suggestion to infill so we had a level playing field (forgive the pun) .  The various committees consisting of the Community Council, the MSC and Parish council all considered that it would cost too much to infill.  Fortunately, Rowlinson Plant Hire were looking for places to dispose of soil from building projects in Haverhill.  David suggested that Rowlinsons could infill this area which is what we see today.  This project came completely free of charge to the village, but was considered to have a value of £500k plus, multiple lorries delivering for quite a long period making dust, mud and noise which was very much complained about at the time. It made a huge difference to the playing field and enabled the village to approach the Borough, suggested by the late John Long and the RAFT committee was formed to make all the improvements to the facilities that we have today.  We were very lucky at the time to have the late Mike Ellers who enthusiastically worked very hard on this project and achieved grant funding from the borough and other sources.

David was living at Farley green where he had a track for his Land Rover on his fields to the Cherry Tree pub. During the mid 90s, David and his wife divorced and in time he moved to Linton where he lived for about 12 years with his 2nd wife Pat Paintin and her children . At this time he looked after the effluent plant at HMP at Gt Wratting where many people from Wickhambrook worked and knew him.  Sadly Pat died and a few years later the man I had known as ‘Rowlie’ whilst I had a livery yard at Farley Green Farm, asked me to marry him and I became Mrs Rowlinson mk III.

The happiest years of my life, and there were 16 of them, were spent with this dear man who was so popular wherever he went.  Family and friends adored him and our time together at South View, just up the road a bit from Farley, was always busy with family and friends calling in.  Being back in the village, although we are actually Stradishall here, enabled him to get back in a tractor where he was totally content.  Harvest time was his favourite time of the year and he put many hours in sometimes working until 2 in the morning if rain threatened, with Jeffrey Claydon in his favourite 7810 John Deere tractor.

David sadly passed away at home this year on 3rd March aged 82, my son Tom’s and my granddaughter’s birthday coincidentally. His funeral later in the month was attended by over 200 mourners and a John Deere tractor led his hearse into the crematorium. His love and laughter will remain with us forever, but he is very sadly missed and the result of his generosity at the playing field will continue to be used, appreciated and enjoyed by Wickhambrook and its surrounding villages for many years to come.

At Farley Green Farm there was a flint sign that had stood on the verge for many years and had been made by John Long.  The very heavy sign followed David to Linton and then to South View but on the 29th May the current owners of Farley Green Farm came and collected it and it is back in its original place nearly 30 years later.

Judy Rowlinson