Founding member of Stourport Twinning Association dies (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Founding member of Stourport Twinning Association dies

7:20am Wednesday 27th February 2013 in News By William Tomaney

Busy man: David Guyatt.

A FORMER Kidderminster teacher and Stourport stalwart who helped form Stourport’s twinning association has died, aged 85.

David Guyatt, who had lived in Worcester since 2002, died on Thursday, February 14, from liver and bowel cancer.

The father of three - John, Mark and Simon - was born in London in 1927. He studied French at the University of London and spent two years in the RAF before moving to Hartlebury in 1954 to teach French at the former Hartlebury Grammar School.

He married Brenda Lagden in 1955 - the couple divorced in 1980 - and moved to Stourport in 1957, living in Bewdley Road then Burlish Close.

In 1977 the school merged with King Charles I Grammar School and Kidderminster High School for Girls to become King Charles I School. Mr Guyatt taught there and was head of modern languages until retiring in 1988.

He was a founding member of Stourport Twinning Association and helped make the film The Way We Were in Stourport 1977, which was used in town twinning exchange visits as an introduction to the area and British life.

The Kent County Cricket Club fan was a keen footballer, table tennis and bridge player and in his younger years played chess for Worcestershire.

Despite partial colour-blindness, he enjoyed painting, especially in oils, with one of his works chosen for a display in an exhibition as part of the Elderly Accommodation Counsel Art Awards in 2009.

During retirement, Mr Guyatt researched his family history back to the 1600s and took an interest in archaeology, which saw him pioneer the Tithe and Inclosure project in 1991 while an Archaeology Service volunteer researcher.

That saw him transcribe original maps in Worcestershire Record Office on to an OS base-map. The project’s success resulted in an official launch online by the chief executive of the National Archives.

Mr Guyatt also leaves behind six grandchildren. His funeral will take place at Wyre Forest Crematorium, Minster Road, Stourport next Monday at 11am.