Alan was a favourite uncle of my children and brother-in-law to Den and me. He could always be relied upon to come to our assistance or give lifts to and from places. He never seemed to mind. One thing that Sarah and I remember is that Den kept chickens, among them a particularly spiteful bantam cockerel Simon. Den was away for the weekend and Sarah was in charge of the chickens. Simon was running amok, scaring the larger cockerel and all the hens. There was only one thing for it. One of the other children ran across the road to ask Alan to come to the rescue. This he did, Alan was very good with animals of any type. Soon Simon was safely locked up and everyone felt safe again. Such a lovely gentle man with a wonderful smile. Bless you Alan.