SIR NIGEL GRESLEY’S ELDEST GRANDSON TIM GODFREY DIES

Tim Godfrey, eldest grandson of LNER Chief Mechanical Engineer Sir Nigel Gresley, and a figurehead Vice‑President of the Gresley Society Trust and the A1 Locomotive Society, has died following a year‑long illness. He was 79. News of his death in care on December 7 was broken in mid‑December by the LNER (SVR) Coach Fund, of which he had also been Vice‑President since 2008. He leaves a widow, Ann and daughter, Selina. His younger brother, Ben Godfrey (75), who survives him, is also Vice‑President of the Gresley Society Trust and the A1 Trust, but it was Tim who generally took the dominant role as ‘officiator’ at public ceremonies, relishing any opportunity to speak from the rostrum about his grandfather’s many achievements. He wasn’t afraid of courting controversy. In 2014, he incurred the wrath of Gresley disciples and the general public for insisting that a symbolic Mallard duck be removed from a bronze sculpture of his grandfather that was ultimately unveiled at King’s Cross in 2015 – even though the Gresley Society initially approved the design. His impatience at the idea – by sculptor Hazel Reeves – was embodied in his statement: “It’s a statue for a man – not a stupid duck.” Tim Godfrey was born in January 1938, just a few months before the world record‑breaking 126mph run by Gresley’s most famous creation – streamlined ‘A4’ class ‘Pacific’ No. 4468 Mallard – and though only three when his grandfather died, he recounted first‑hand memories of the great man. A funeral service is due to be held in the parish church at Claverley, Wolverhampton, on January 26.