Kelvin White

We are badly missing Kelvin and his fun and dry humour. We remember the many gigs and the `Desfest` gatherings we shared with great ale and dancing.

The funeral which we viewed on line was very moving and we learnt more about Kelvin`s remarkable life and interests and his fascination with trains and railways..
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We look forward to working with Julia on a musical memorial event in the summer . Kelvin and Julia helped us greatly with our music and our hit `Blue Skies Sunshine ` which first came together when we played at the amazing Ashendon Fest in the field, .A mighty thanks to you Kelvin and Julia for all the fun..

Love and Music :)

sue ,phil, rick and sandro. :):):):)

I am sorry that I missed Kelvin's funeral yesterday - I had very much wanted to say goodbye. I will remeber Kelvin at the Centre for his hilarious quiz team names at the Quiz night, his passion for getting things right for the charity, his beautiful talent for art – and a very kind email he sent me just before Christmas when he saw me having a difficult conversation with someone- he kindly just checked in afterwards to make sure I was ok. We were also all aware of how much he enjoyed his recent holiday – he spoke to a number of people at the Centre about that and I hope that brings some comfort in such difficult times.

I will miss Kelvin a lot and hope there will be a ridiculous quiz name in his honour later this year!

May I offer my condolences to you for the loss of Kelvin, on behalf of the 7mm Narrow Gauge Association and personally.

I think I must have been acquainted with Kelvin for more than forty years, having first met him when I helped my friend Gerry Beale behind the counter of the Oxford Publishing Co. book and model shop in Headington. Our paths crossed many times since as we attended various model railway exhibitions, particularly those relevant to modelling narrow gauge railways.

As a modeller Kelvin had what might be politely described as an 'open minded' or 'butterfly' approach, seemingly flitting through the various scales and potential prototypes with great enthusiasm. It is one of the joys of the narrow gauge genre that there is plenty of material to choose from!

With sincere sympathy,

Adrian

We moved into Ashendon 5 years ago, Kelvin and Julia always made us feel so welcome. Our two boys regularly play on the Multi-use Games Area which Kelvin was instrumental in helping to create. It has bought the children of the village (and beyond) a lot of joy and saved us from boredom many a time during the pandemic. We will think of Kelvin everytime we play there. Our little village on the hill won't be the same without him.

I am saddened by the loss of a good friend, I have known Kelvin for about 30 years and have always admired his enthusiasm for whatever he got involved in. It might be something for the community’s good in his village or another very obscure railway to model. Which one of the rest of us had ever heard of a narrow gauge railway carrying salt in Spain (I think). I will miss you old friend.

Firstly, my deepest condolences to Julia & Gwen at this terribly sad time. Although none of us know when it is “our time” the unexpectedness of this sudden & tragic farewell to Kelvin feels particularly premature.

I only met Kelvin a few times in the early stages of his MS journey to offer some limited physiotherapeutic help - again a cruel & undeserved condition, but I was often updated by Julia on Kelvin’s endeavours - particularly concerning his enthusiasm for model railways.

I was so pleased whenever Julia & Kelvin managed to travel together, & was thrilled they managed to undertake their long desired trip to Japan at the end of last year. I had been anticipating hearing the stories but when Julia last got in touch it was not with the news I was expecting to hear.

I am sad not to be able to attend the farewell service to offer support, but am thinking of Julia & Gwen & send this poem as a gesture of positive thoughts.

“Afterglow” by Helen Lowrie Marshall

I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one.
I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.
I’d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days.
I’d like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun;
Of happy memories that I leave when life is done.

With all my best wishes.x

I had worked at Atkins for 5 years prior to the contract moving to Mouchel but never met Kelvin due to different work areas.
Coincidentally, in late summer 2005 I joined a social group of Atkins staff which met several times a year, most often at The Plough in Wolvercote, and was introduced to Kelvin. It was a very enjoyable evening contributed to by all but particularly by Kelvin's not inconsiderable humour and rather unique wit.
The same group has continued to meet. The last time was November last year. Both Kelvin and Julia were there and in particularly good spirits, it being the eve prior to departing on their "lifetime's trip" to Japan. I am grateful that my last meeting with Kelvin saw him in good spirits and still with that unique character for which all who knew him will remember him.

I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Kelvin, and I express my sincerest condolences to Julia and Gwen on their loss.

I got to know Kelvin through Julia when we became colleagues at SOAS, and through visits to their house in Ashendon and meals in local pubs. He was a kind, gentle person who could converse and share his passions about a wide range of subjects from architecture and planning, to lino cuts and painting, model railways, American football, and history and geography. I recall being stunned on one occasion by how much he knew from memory about north Queensland sugar cane railways when I mentioned once having driven across the tracks of such a train line near Cairns. I was also impressed by how he dealt with his MS and was able to travel and enjoy his retirement despite it. Kelvin loved his family, especially his grandchildren, deeply and will be very much missed by them and his various friends. RIP.

Forever young is how I remember Kelvin.
And not just in our youth.
Rest easy young man.💚 🥾❤️⛰️

https://youtu.be/Frj2CLGldC4?si=ypCkmCk2Sinm60Qv

LYRICS
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
May you stay forever young

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the light surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
May you stay forever young

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
And may you stay forever young
May you stay forever young

Dear Julia and Gwen,
I understand that you needed time to come to terms with losing Kelvin so suddenly and I hope it's now the right time to tell you that I and all the White Horse Railroaders were shocked by the news.

We will remember Kelvin for his ceaseless flow of creativity and huge knowledge of what he was modelling. It goes beyond mere toy trains, of course: he was a mate with a lively mind and a keen sense of humour that always brightened up our meetings.

I'm not sure that 'sympathy' goes very far at times like this; we offer it because we're not sure what else we can do, but we do share your sorrow and want to lend support. We will not forget Kelvin.
Best wishes from Ian Wheeler

Upon hearing of your husband, Mr. Kelvin White’s sudden passing, I am filled with shock and sadness.

December 3rd, when I showed you around the pottery towns of Arita and Imari in Kyushu, Japan, will always stay with me.

I remember our meal at a vegetarian restaurant in an old wooden station building in a small rural area. Also, Kelvin-san, an architect who loved trains, was delighted to see the train arriving while waiting for his meal. I can picture the happy smile on his face as he took many photos of the train. Please show your trip to pottery towns in Saga as one of your memories with Kelvin san!

It is very difficult to believe that trip was his last trip to Japan. As a guide in charge, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to Mr. Kelvin White with the K-iTG Kyushu Association of Interpreters, Translators and Guide.

May he rest in peace.
Please show your trip to pottery towns in Saga as one of your memories with Kelvin san!

Masako Tanakamaru

Sadly, Kelvin passed away on Tuesday 3 March having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer less than three weeks earlier. Apparently, this was after he was told that his multiple sclerosis might have stabilised. Sometimes there is just no justice in life.

When I started to write this piece about Kelvin, I quickly realised how little I actually knew about Kelvin, despite having known him through the S Scale Society and the Risborough and District Model Railway Club for around 20 years.

Kelvin had an eclectic range of interests, was an active member of many groups, but many only knew that side of him which came from their mutual interests. There was more to Kelvin than many of us knew. I knew him as a railway modeller.

At some stage he made model ships, possibly whilst living on the narrow boat he had converted into a home. He also enthusiastically made lino cuts, printed his own Christmas cards and after he was diagnosed with MS had a go at painting with acrylics. He was a war gamer, through which he secured a commission to make a 1:56 diorama of Hawthorn Redoubt on the Somme. And along with his other projects and interests he was active in reopening his village pub, the Ash Tree in Ashendon, as a community pub after it was closed by it’s then owner. Did I mention music? A man of wide and diverse interests.

As a railway modeller, Kelvin was often called a modelling butterfly. He, and I, defined this as a modeller who settles on a subject, researches it in great detail, buys too many kits, even makes some, achieves some progress, then loses interest and moves to the next project. This must be the sign of a fertile imagination. Multiple railway interests led to multiple projects, of a wide range of prototypes, in a variety of scales; he seems to have had a go at all the major scales and gauges from 2mm, though to Gauge 3, dabbling in live steam in the garden along the way. British, Continental, Indian and Japanese prototypes all attracted his attention; known projects were, Eastern European TT-scale, Japanese N-gauge twice, O-Scale in both standard and narrow gauge, Dutch narrow gauge in N, Indian narrow gauge (who knows what scale and gauge!), a number of British S scale layouts including Brill and Hambrook, Ibiza salt flats, and the list goes on.

His many friends in the informal White Horse Group of North American modellers would tease him about his many abandoned projects calling him a rubber gauger. But Kelvin just took it all in good spirit, giving back as good as he got. How could anyone spend a lifetime making yet more models of the same prototype in the same scale 7 gauge; there were far too many interesting prototypes to waste a lifetime on just one.

A British S scale project that clearly excited him was Wotton under Edge, a never built light railway in Gloucestershire. This was researched in detail at the National Archives, Gloucester Records Office and several site visits. A set of boards was built and a detailed mock up was shown at the S Scale AGM in 2010 and was well received. But, Kelvin and Julia moved into a new house shortly afterwards, so progress stalled. When it restarted, the boards had to be reduced in size to suit the new house and what Kelvin described as signature features had to be omitted, and so it never really restarted and was abandoned back into the loft.

However, if he had an abiding railway modelling interest it was American S scale. A number of small exhibition layouts were built and displayed. Finistere, Eagle Lake and Kerneekee Mks 1 & 2. Shorter lived layouts were Blackwater and Southern (Sn3) and Karocsky (Sn2.5) Apparently they all looked simple, but those that operated them soon found that they demanded thought and attention. But that shouldn’t be a surprise as Kelvin clearly enjoyed operating model railways. The White Horse group will remember operating sessions on Ted Smale's Pacific and North Eastern HO layout. Kelvin would annoy the yardmasters and infuriate the dispatchers by assembling over-length trains, complicating any single-track meets and clogging up yards on arrival. This would generate much banter and ribaldry, which is really what these sessions are all about. Kelvin would then just smile sweetly and all would be mostly forgiven. And he was pretty good at doing the same thing on Trevor Nunn’s S scale East Lynn and Nunstanton!

But all of this was just Kelvin. He loved tossing the proverbial pebble into the pool and stepping back to watch the ripples. Sometimes the resulting tsunami caught him out; but he would be forgiven. How could it be otherwise? He was warm, friendly, enthusiastic and never too serious; just what the hobby needs.

We'll all have fond memories of him for a long time to come.

Although I did not have the privilege of knowing Kelvin personally, I have come to understand the depth of his kindness, intellect, and warmth through Julia’s stories about him. The love and admiration she expressed for him spoke volumes about the remarkable person he was and the profound bond they shared. It is clear that Kelvin’s presence left an enduring mark on those around him, not only as a husband and father but as someone whose many interests and talents enriched the lives of so many.

My thoughts are with Julia, Gwen, and all who knew and loved him. May his memory continue to inspire and bring comfort!

Kingsley Ugwuanyi, SOAS