Robin Sweeting was born on the 20th April 1945, and passed away on the 6th December 2014.
He was the second son of Richard and Ivy Sweeting of Hall Farm Cotness. He married Christine Sweeting (Nee Morley) on December 1968.
Below is a tribute as read at his funeral.
Good afternoon, and thank you for coming today. Over the last 10 days we’ve had a huge
number of visitors and have heard many stories about dad. As a family we’ve found it really
helpful and thoughtful, and we want to thank everyone for the support and love we’ve had from
close family, friends, and everybody involved.
I remember my Dad as everything you could want your Dad to be. He was great fun, always
ready to chuckle at something, and always keen to get on, go outside, and to do something
constructive. He didn’t always talk a lot, so he took some opening up, but he had a great
collection of stories when he thought about it. But he was too busy looking forward to dwell on
the past. To my sisters he was a great friend, and his promise to them to collect them if needed,
wherever in the world they were was a great support to them, even if it did sound a little
impractical to me. To My mum, he was the love of her life, her inspiration, occasional infuriation
and always the young faced man she fell in love with 50 years ago.
He was born 69 years ago, the second son in what would become a family of four brothers.
When he was very young, Dad won a beautiful baby competition at the Laxton fete. He
reminded us about this every year.
Over the last week we’ve had some great stories told of a happy childhood living in the
countryside, a childhood spent with his family and a boy with a cheeky grin enjoying the open air
and farming life.
As children, they’d been encouraged to be enterprising by his Grandfather who would shoot
hares on the land around Cotness, and then give them to Dad and his older brother, John to sell
to the game dealer in Hull where they went to school. The thought of two boys in school
uniform with hares dripping blood going on the train from Laxton to Hull would be pretty
unusual now.
He also used to be a choirboy in Laxton Church, and at the same time would carry the cross
back down the aisle from the alter. As he did this he would wink at the girls as they went by.
I understand he and my Uncle John took out a £200 loan to buy some pigs when they were
teenagers. From this they started up in business and joined with my Grandfather in their early
twenties. That they are in the same partnership now and that it’s grown by such an amount says a
lot about the level of hard work, initiative, and the family values that he lived by.
I guess you’d describe him as a businessman first and a farmer second. He had a great interest in
other industries and if he was ever asked for advice, he’d give you some very pragmatic and
down to earth guidance, which usually had the infuriating ending of “but you’ll know what’s
right”.
He was certainly an individual, with almost maverick tendencies. My grandma always said he’d
do exactly what he wanted to do, when he wanted to do it, and through his hard work and
initiative he was able to do this pretty much every day for the rest of his life. Despite this, he was
a great team player, and was always able to work in partnership with others in the farming sector.
But he could be also be very stubborn. He was a kind man, always courteous and friendly,
though he very occasionally lost his temper. It was short, sharp tongued, but never lasted. The
phrase “do you think I’ve dropped off a bus?” might be heard. This was only ever when
someone tested his patience, or rachels boyfriends stayed a little too long.
Although he didn’t think much to school, and couldn’t wait to leave, his interests were wide and
included a keen interest in current affairs, other people, going to events, and machinery,
industrial, agricultural, and engineering heritage. He had recently bought and renovated a 1923
citroen car, and on his frequent trips to South Africa and Argentina would stop at farms and
motor museums to chat and see how to recreate their star exhibits.
His latest interest was drone technology, and he wanted to get a drone in part to go crop viewing
on the neighbours land and over the river, and in part to have the thrill of flying. At a recent
event Rach tells me he knew more about the legislation than the speaker..
His adventures on the internet were always entertaining, and whether it was the bargain buy of a
pair of shoes, or the more surprising purchase of a jaguar car in California on ebay, he always
kept us guessing.
And in general, he was interested in people. While he’d grown up with three brothers, he loved
female company, and he never missed a chance to talk to and grin with attractive ladies. I’m not
sure I ever saw him happier than at my sisters weddings, entertaining at home with his family
and friends around him, and pretty girls he hadn’t met before.
Alongside all this was his terrific sense of humour. Whether it was teasing mum, or surprising us
with presents, he took a huge delight in confounding expectations, and only revealing what he
was up to a the final moment. An example of this was a family trip to spain, which dad insisted
he couldn’t go on. Charlie and jemima were playing on the beach when a figure appeared, he had
flown out on his own – without telling anybody where he was going – and surprised them.
His biggest interest was his family, and he loved having them around, and also his in laws Matt,
Rich, and Kate. He’d really enjoyed getting to know them on a personal and professional level,
and would often disappear with them. He loved the company of his younger family, Charlie,
Jemima, and Freddie, and will be an example to us all.
Dad would have wanted to thank you all for being here today. He wasn’t someone who loved
the limelight, and was generally much more interested in other people than himself. But he’d
have enjoyed seeing you all, and being able to chat to each of you.
Rob, Dad, Grandpa, Uncle Rob, you had a fantastic attitude to life, and we felt loved by you.
You will be hugely missed.