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Thursday, April 16, 2020 28

NEWBURY NEWS Obituaries

Newbury Weekly News

John Francis Hall-Craggs 1931 - 2020

Glenna Mary Williams 1936 - 2020

SCIENTISTS and health experts have confirmed that newspapers are not transmit- ters of Covid-19 owing to the ink and the printing process they go through. Speaking on Good Morning Britain and setting the record straight regarding newspapers’ safety, Dr Hilary Jones said: “For public health information right now it’s important people have access to information through newspapers.” Dr Hilary stressed that they were an essential service and that “it’s possible to deliver newspapers safely”. He said: “If someone physi- cally picks them up and deliv- ers them to a doorstep or letter- box, it’s safe.” John Innes Centre virologist George Lomonossoff, who uses molecular biology to under- stand the assembly and proper- GLENNA Mary Williams, 83, from Foley Cottage, Stockcross, passed away peacefully at home Thursday, April 9. Glenna was born in St Pancras Central London on June 9, 1936, the only child to Mary Lillian and Ronald Wilfred Verion Page. Soon after war was declared the family moved from London back to Newbury to be closer to Glenna’s grandparents’ family home in East Woodhay and took up tenancy of the Craven Arms public house in Enborne, where she spent her early years. Glenna went to school at Sandleford St Gabriels in Newbury and after leaving school trained as a hairdresser, as well as working in the Craven Arms with her family. In 1955, she married Allan Snook, a local businessman and farmer, and moved to Boxford while they renovated Deanwood Farm, Stockcross. She and Allan had six children and she is survived by Joanna, Carol, Andrew, Deborah, Claire and Lucy, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. In 1979, after Allan and Glenna divorced, she travelled to Hong Kong and worked in the famous landmark pub, the Bull & Bear. She made a permanent move to live on the Peek overlooking the city and continued her love of travel, exploring China, Borneo, Macau, Thailand and the Philippines. Glenna enjoyed an active ex-pat lifestyle of continuous embassy parties and made many lifelong friends from around the world with whom she kept in contact. Glenna married Michael Williams, a Hong Kong trader in 1986 and they set up home in

Locally, in Brightwalton, he chaired the PCC for many years, won one of the first lottery grants to expand the village hall and raised funds for a second building for the village school, ran his railway for the fete, achieved some of the first low-cost housing and sought to preserve it as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Ever a keen oarsman, having rowed in the 1956 Boat Race and continuing at Henley, he was invited to set up rowing at Pangbourne Nautical College. He coached them to victory at Henley Royal Regatta in the Princess Elizabeth Cup in 1963 and was instrumental in moving the Schools Regatta to the widened Child Beale course. He was a founder member of the Kitchin Society uniting school rowing coaches to think and plan together. He also coached the Leander cadets and his college crew LMBC. He attended Henley Royal Regatta 62 times (1950,1957 and 1960-2019). Latterly he co-wrote Volumes II, III & IV of The History of Lady Margaret Boat Club. A man of consistency and of letters; a quietly determined visionary, devoted to his family, his village and his many interests. OLIVIA HALL-CRAGGS

JFHC was a major contributor to the success of Plenty & Son, a Newbury engineering company founded in 1790. He joined in 1956 and was MD from 1971 to 1980, when he left to develop other engineering activities, including renewable energy. Under his leadership, Plenty grew and made some significant developments; it expanded from making pumps, filters and mixers to signing contracts for packaged plants on pipelines, including two in Siberia, and on to off-shore oil production platforms in the North Sea, India and the Middle East. JFHC led the company with great confidence, establishing and developing Plenty business outside Britain in the US, Africa, India, Australia, Indonesia, Spain and Brazil. In 1978, he formed Oil Plus, a 50/50 joint venture with BP to exploit know-how gained from North Sea water injection. His management style followed the latest ideas in employee communication, keeping all who worked for Plenty informed by newsletters and briefing meetings. John was also a great supporter of the Plenty Sports and Social Club which organised events and outdoor sports activities, epitomised by the creation of the Plenty Sports Day.

ties of viruses in the UK, said: “Newspapers are pretty sterile because of the way they are printed and the process they’ve been through. “Traditionally, people have eaten fish and chips out of them for that very reason. “So all of the ink and the print makes them actually quite sterile. The chances of that are infinitesimal.” The World Health Organisa- tion also confirmed that read- ing newspapers carries no real risk of catching the Covid-19 virus. It said: “The likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes Covid-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled and exposed to differ- ent conditions and temperature is also low.” Pockfulam Road, Hong Kong. During the time of partition, Glenna and Michael decided to return to the UK and they settled back into her beloved cottage in Stockcross. Glenna spent her retirement enjoying ambitious plans creating a beautiful garden which she absolutely loved. She enjoyed her family and kept them entertained with stories of her travels around the world. She loved and was very proud of all of her grandchildren whom she supported and followed their achievements in life. A burial will be held at St John’s Church, Stockcross, and due to the Government’s restrictions during the Covid- 19 pandemic, this will be a private affair with only four family members in attendance. Her funeral arrangements are being handled by Smallbones in Newbury. Donations to Thames Valley Air Ambluance, www.tvairamulance.org.uk A celebration of her life will be sometime after social restrictions are lifted. JD

John Hall-Craggs (standing) keeping a watchful eye on the engines on show at the first Plenty Sports Day in 1975, created following the cancellation of Hunfgoerrd Steam Fa, idrue to“continually rising fuel costs”. Plenty had exhibited in 1974, celebrating 100 years of steam. More than 1,000 people had a great day out; Pangbourne and District brass band played and Joh’sn9½” gauge railway provided many rides

He was held in great affection by the staff and the company. Born in 1931 in Reading he spent his childhood in the North, was educated at Shrewsbury and read engineering at Cambridge, joining Plenty as a graduate. Charged by Guy Shoosmith, he launched and always supported

the Plenty apprentice scheme. This enthusiasm led him to chair the Newbury Technical College. With Plenty, alongside other organisations and individuals, he was involved in the setting up of Newbury Arts Workshop. He also sat as a JP.

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