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Edward Smith

23/11/2007

ACCRINGTON was swamped with mourners on Monday when hundreds of travellers turned out to pay their last respects to Edward Smith, one of the founders of the Whinney Hill caravan site.

They paid tribute to Mr Smith, 56, who died after suffering a stroke.

A service was conducted at St Paul’s Church, Accrington  followed by burial at Accrington Cemetery.

So many friends and relatives arrived in Accrington town centre that police were needed to help conduct traffic along Eastgate en route to the Burnley Road crematorium.

Between 300 and 400 people attended the funeral, with mourners travelling from all over the country and some coming from as far afield as America and Scotland.

Speaking to the Observer at her caravan on the site, Mr Smith’s wife Violet said: “He was larger than life and always very loud. He would shout a lot and make a lot of noise but there was never anything in it and he would do anyone a favour.

“His bark was definitely worse than his bite. He would have shouted at the wall if he thought it could answer back, but he was as soft as anything.”

Mr Smith was one of the founders of the Whinney Hill site in the 1970s after lobbying the council to get it established. Once it was set up he had lived there ever since.

Mrs Smith said: “He was keen on horses, dogs and chickens; he just liked being around them. He also liked to go to the pub and over the years he went to quite a few including the Boars Head and the Castle in Accrington and the Printers in Oswaldtwistle.

“He had friends and relatives all over the place as he used to travel when he was younger and he met all kinds of people.

“We got five truck-loads of flowers and we would like to thank everyone who came to see him before he died and all the staff at the Royal Blackburn Hospital who helped care for him.”

As well as his wife, he leaves children Edward, Jim, Rodney, Sarah-Jane, Leah and John, a daughter-in-law Katie and a grandson Jim.

Several pubs in Accrington and Oswaldtwistle closed their doors after the funeral as they were concerned about the large number of travellers who had arrived in the borough for the service.