New Milton Advertiser 13th Nov 2020

Friday 13th November 2020 · 17

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Obituaries

Paul over the line after 27 marathons in 26 days

Doug Clark Former Royal Navy commander was a member of Ringwood musical society

PAT Aslett, known to hun- dreds of youngsters as a for- mer Christchurch Brownie and Guide leader, as well as being a longstanding Red Cross volun- teer, has died at the age of 84. Over the years she received many accolades for her commu- nity work including the Dorset Youth Service Award, the May- or’s Award, the Good Citizens Award and the Good Service 40 Years Girl Guiding Award. Pat achieved all this despite suffering frommultiple sclerosis for around 44 years. Pat also belonged to the Brit- ish Red Cross as a cadet officer and was a founder member of Christchurch Life Saving Club, patrolling the Mudeford and Bournemouth beaches at week- ends. Born in Waterlooville in 1936, Pat and her family moved to Christchurch when she was around three, shortly before the Doug was almost 19 when war was declared in 1939 and, as he had a love for the sea, joined the navy as a junior stores assis- tant. After completing his train- ing, he was sent to Paisley near Glasgow to join HMS Kenya and in 1941 he joined HMS Trin- idad, which was later damaged in combat due to a faulty torpe- do. Fortunately, Doug was saved from the ship but 32 others lost their lives. A FORMER commander in the Royal Navy who was a long- standing member of the Ring- wood Musical and Dramatic So- ciety has died aged 99. Douglas Clark, who lived in the town, served for over 30 years with the senior service and also taught mathematics at Ringwood Secondary School during the 1970s. Known as Doug, he was born in Weymouth on 26th January 1921 and later moved to New- port in Wales for his father’s job with the Post Office. The fami - ly returned to visit relatives in Weymouth every summer and Doug and his brother Ted would enjoy fishing trips. Doug’s love of singing be- gan at a very young age and at around seven years old his par- ents bought a piano and he took lessons. Later he went on to join the choir at Summerhill Baptist Church, where he met future wife Joan.

He was granted a short pe- riod of leave in 1942 so he could marry Joan at the chap- el at Summerhill Baptist Church. They went on to have three sons: Roger, Brian and Ni- gel. Doug rose through the ranks and by 1947, stationed back in Wales, he was promoted to lieutenant. After stints in the Far East he was appointed lieu- tenant commander in 1952 and he and Joan enjoyed the luxury of married quarters at Little- hampton. In 1949 Doug was appointed to HMS Black Swan, which was stationed in the Yangtze River in Shanghai and was awaiting repair after an earlier exchange of gunfire. Unfortunately, Doug contracted mumps while on- board and had to spend three weeks in hospital in Hong Kong before rejoining the ship, which was headed for Japan. At the outbreak of the Korean War, HMS Black Swan was the first ship on the scene and was immediately attacked from the air. In 1954 he studied at Naval College in Greenwich and one year later he was sent to join HMS Fisgard in Cornwall. It was while he was in Cornwall that he was introduced to the world of amateur dramatics and took part in a couple of concerts and Christmas pantomimes.

knee-length bloomers as part of her uniform. In 1963 she be- came the Brown Owl. Pat was a Brownie Guider for 48 years but reluctantly retired at 65 because of Guiding regu- lations. As well as becoming a Brown- ie leader, Pat became the Sea Rangers sub-lieutenant, later becoming the skipper, and was thrilled to attend Buckingham Palace and St James’s Palace when two of her Sea Rangers received the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. Pat was a member of the Trefoil Guild from 1993 and re- ceived the Trefoil Gold Dark Horse Award and the Trefoil Gold Voyage Award. Pat is survived by her sister Gill, and a funeral has been held. Anyone wishing to donate in her memory can give to the Dorset and Somerset Air Am- bulance. was promoted to commander, Doug was stationed in Rosyth near Glasgow for a few years. In 1966 Doug was posted to HMS Tamar in Hong Kong and was introduced to a local oper- atic group, where he was soon given a part in an upcoming production. Together with Joan they also sung in a Christian choir. They returned to the UK in 1970 and Doug retired a year later, having finished his post at the Admiralty Interview Board based in Gosport. The same year the couple joined The Ringwood Musical and Dramatic Society. They took part in all the annual mu- sicals and other activities un- til 1986, when they gave up the stage and helped to form the so- ciety’s choir. Doug was treasurer for 25 years and later president, and he continued to be a part of the group until 2016. After he retired, Doug built a sailing cruiser, and he and Joan enjoyed trips on the Solent and English Channel. He also en- joyed caravan holidays, long walks and maintaining his large garden. Joan died in 2004 after suffer- ing a heart attack. Doug, who had been un- well for a short time, died on 25th October. His funeral was held yesterday (Thursday) at Bournemouth Crematorium.

RUNNING man Paul O’Boyle received a hero’s welcome after completing 27 marathons in 26 days in aid of a Christchurch hospice. Paul (56) started his chal- lenge on 1st October and ran a marathon every day to raise funds for the Macmillan Unit at Christchurch Hospital. Money raised will help to re- place the current, outdated hospice with a more modern and well-equipped facility. Paul said: “It has been hard, but absolutely incredible. At some points I really worried I was going to get an injury. Oth- er days when the weather was particularly bad it was really tough going and I felt exhaust- ed. Now I’m just absolutely re- lieved and thankful to have got through it!” On the last day of his chal- lenge Paul ran not one, but two marathons, enjoying a grand fin - ish at the hospice and bringing his total distance to 702 miles. He continued: “I’ve had such amazing support throughout from my friends and everyone at the unit and I’ve watched my sponsorship climb from a few pounds at the beginning to now £7,000. I just want to get to £10,000 and I’ll be on cloud THE creations of both BCP Council and Dorset Council as new local authorities were rec- ognised by national flagship sector accolades. Beating competition from the other shortlisted nominees, the councils jointly won the busi- ness transformation gong for 2020 in the LGC Awards. BCP Council leader Cllr Drew Mellor, who took over in Octo- ber, was a member of the joint committee responsible for set up at the beginning of the local government reform process. He said: “Many of us knew back in 2015 that time was run- ning out to find sustainable solutions that protect the vital public services that local gov- ernment provides. “The scale of the task was

for 14 years where she was very popular with customers. Pat’s next job was at Boots in Boscombe, where she trained to be a window dresser and was soon travelling to Boots branch- es all over Hampshire and Dor- set. She remained at Boots for 26 years until 1991. Pat’s involvement of more than 50 years with the Guiding movement started when she joined the Girl Guides at the age of 11, where she loved the camping activities and crafts. While still a Guide, she helped with the Brownies, and then at 16 joined Christchurch Sea Rangers. She loved rowing and camping as well as helping at weekends at Capesthorne chil- dren’s convalescence home at Mudeford. At 17 she became a Tawny Owl at St George’s Brownies in Christchurch and was horrified at having to buy herself navy, In 1957 he was appointed as- sistant secretary to the admiral in charge of the Reserve Fleet at Plymouth and two years later served in the Mediterranean on HMS Eastbourne. In notes compiled on his computer before he died, Doug wrote: “We were involved in the trouble associatedwith the Suez Canal and it was the only time in my career that I went ashore on duty armed with a pistol – I did know how to use it!” After a brief spell based in Portsmouth, during which he

nine.” The Macmillan Unit provides palliative care and support for over 1,600 people and their fam- ilies every year. Father-of-one Paul, a Bourne- mouth school caretaker, is no stranger to showing feats of strength. He recovered from fractures to his skull, ribs and collarbone after being knocked off his bike by a drink-driver in July 2015. Neal Williams, trust secre- Paul O’Boyle and daughter Lauren enormous. No unitary council, let alone two, has ever been created in such a short period of time, but our deadline was absolute. On 1st April 2019, two new councils were legally re- quired to exist, and the preced- ing nine councils dissolved.” He vowed BCP Council’s cre- ation was “just the start” amid continuing efforts to harmonise services, modernise processes and put residents at the heart of decision-making. Introducing the award, Tom Black, managing director of sponsoring executive consul- tancy Hammond Clarke, re- vealed there had been a record number of entries for the cate- gory this year. “Our winner showcased and demonstrated unparalleled

tary of Macmillan Caring Local- ly, said: “We now call Paul the Marathon Man and even that doesn’t do justice to what he has achieved. “To overcome what he has and go on to conquer such challenges is nothing short of incredible and following his journey each day has been both thrilling and humbling for us all.” Donate at www.justgiving. com/campaign/MarathonMan

Pat Aslett Well known Christchurch Brownie and Guide leader, and charity volunteer

Awards for councils’ creation

transformation beyond that of project management under intense pressure, scrutiny and national spotlight. What they achieved was fantastic,” he said. The award was open to councils which fundamental- ly transformed the way they work, either across their entire organisation, across a number of organisations or across a di- rectorate. Judges praised the ambi- tion shown by BCP and Dorset councils, along with the pace of their transformations in com- plex circumstances. There was commendation for creating the 12th largest unitary council – serving a population of 400,000 – with a very complex agenda, while also dealing with a global pandemic.

arrival of her younger sister Gill. She attended Christchurch Junior School and Twynham School before leaving at the age of 15 to work at GJ Hayter jig- saw factory in Boscombe. She worked at Woolworths in Christchurch running the sweets and biscuits counter