SVR-Online Forum

[cherry_p]

just had an email to say that John died this morning. Not unexpected, I'm afraid. We'd all hoped the cancer would respond to treatment, but it was not to be. A really good bloke.

[redman]

thanks for the info Pete - his talents will be missed
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hold it, nod your head & I'll hit it every time

[hassell_a]

Very sad news indeed.
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Adrian

http://www.4930hagleyhall.org.uk

[matt84]

A very nice Man will be sadly missed
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Matt Fielding

Severn Valley Steam 2008 & 2009 DVD now on sale at Kidderminster and Bridgnorth Station shops priced at £12.00


Photo Charter Organiser on the Valley

[glennr2008]

Thoughts with his family, such a sad loss
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No matter where i roam
I will come back to my English Rose
For no bonds, can ever keep me from she

[hart_r]

My wife and I volunteered for John and it was good to do business with such a nice guy. We offer our sympathy to his family and all who knew and worked with him. A sad loss and a difficult act to follow.

[hackes1984]

Sorry to hear that, he will be greatly missed by all on the railway RIP
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Scott Hackett
Kidderminster Town Station
Inspector

[P Thornhill]

I am sorry to hear of this sad loss He will be greatly missed a truly great guy. My thoughts go out to his family.

[Clarke_T]

An echo of the comments already posted, such a sad loss, my thoughts to his family and those close to him.
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Regards
Tom Clarke (littlenobby)
Passed Cleaner BY MPD

[Peter Pearson]

This is sad news. John and family are in my prayers.

Peter

PS This is now posted in Latest News on the SVR official site.

[sharpo]

As has been said by others, sad news indeed. I noticed the wreath on 43106 today.
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Sharpo

All photo updates listed here:-
http://www.sharpos-world.co.uk/blog/

[creese_m]

Very very sad news . One of life's true gentleman
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regards

Latest photo updates on www.martincreese.fotopic.net

Photo charter organiser for 11 years . Everyone welcome

[d431hood]

Very sad news. My thoughts are with his family. He will be a hard act to follow.
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Joe Burr
C50A Occasional Working Volunteer
Fifty Fund Chairman, Sales Officer & Webmaster
Ruston 906 Group Shareholder
SVR Shareholder

[45002]

He was a great guy and a true gentleman,he was always so full of energy,always had a smile for everyone,i will greatly miss my chats i had with him other the years,you could always talk to John what ever the problem was.

John was truly a great asset to SVR and will be greatly missed by all.

He was as we use to call him

Mr Marketing

Rest in Peace John

MARTIN
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A Legend for 18/19 years now Somewhere as a BO clerk on the SVR and getting on all the right people's nerves !

[yates_m]

THE NORMALLY buoyant and upbeat Severn Valley Railway is in sombre mood today, following the death of John Leach, who as the railway’s Sales & Marketing Manager for the past 15 years, was to many people - and especially to the media - the ‘front man’ and the public face of the Kidderminster - Bridgnorth steam heritage line.

John, who lived at Clows Top, had been battling pancreatic cancer for the past year, and died in Worcester Royal Hospital in the early hours of Thursday morning, July 29th. Aged 55, he leaves a wife, Sue, and young family of three children to whom, as the model ‘family man’, he was utterly devoted. Funeral arrangements are now in the process of being made.

John joined the SVR in 1995 as the first occupant of the newly-created post of Marketing Manager, and immediately set about arresting the early 1990s pattern of decline in the railway’s passenger figures through a series of new and enlightened publicity and marketing ideas, repositioning the SVR to a far higher profile in the general tourism market.

Success came in an almost breathless run of new passenger records in eight of his first ten years, rising from a figure of 172,000 passengers in 1995, to more than a quarter of a million in 2005, when 252,000 passengers were carried. The railway’s revenue trebled in that time, today bringing an annual turnover of more than £6 million.

His marketing touch contributed also to a succession of tourism awards for the SVR, including the accolade of ‘Railway of the Year’ from the ‘The Good Britain Guide’ in 2002.

He wasn’t only the face of the SVR to many people, but also the voice, representing the SVR in countless radio and television interviews, and on the panels of many tourism organisations, including the former Heart of England Tourist Board (now Tourism West Midlands), and he was Chairman of Shropshire Star Attractions.

Born and brought up in Watford, Herts, John had a lifetime interest in railways, and on leaving school went to work for British Rail as an assistant at its ‘Collector’s Corner’ emporium at Euston. By the mid-1970s he was working with BR London Midland Region’s as a Press Officer - his first dealings with the media - and in 1985 he became Marketing Manager for the Steam Locomotive Operators Association - the organisation then running main line steam excursions on British Rail metals.

SLOA underwent many identity changes, but John remained as the principal promoter of tourist and ‘day out’ steam charter trains on the main line - often taking the role of train manager on many of them. He joined the Severn Valley Railway in 1995.

Modest by nature, he would never have claimed to be an expert on railways or a railway historian, but he none-the-less had an almost photographic head for detail, particularly when it came to locomotives and rolling stock.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2009, and although he knew the survival statistics were not in his favour - only 4 per cent of people diagnosed make it to five years - he demonstrated great mental strength and courage, contending: “There’s absolutely no reason why I can’t be among the four per cent.”

John managed his illness by throwing himself headlong into the job that he loved. At a time when he was undergoing chemotherapy, no-one would have blamed him a jot for taking his foot off the pedal - but instead he eased into overdrive, facing up to a demanding routine including many out-of-hours committee meetings - as though everything in his life was still perfectly normal.

Planning however against the worst, and aware that it might be a last opportunity, earlier this year he took his wife Sue and children Denise (15), Anna (11) and Kieron (9) to Disneyworld in Florida, when amongst other activities, the family went swimming with dolphins. But on returning home, John was diagnosed with both Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and Diabetes - complications which took their toll in his final weeks.

Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) plc Chairman Mick York paid to tribute to John Leach’s extraordinary strength of character in dealing with his illness.

“John was always so positive that one could not but admire the courage that he demonstrated in the face of such adversity” he said.

“He was a genuine railwayman who loved steam, and the Severn Valley Railway is a much stronger and more robust railway as a result of the excellent work he did as our Marketing Manager. He was always thoroughly professional and conscientious, and as the many friends he made in the railway industry will know, his passing leaves a very big hole. He will be greatly missed.”
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Kind Regards,

Malcolm