I met Stewart around 1970 when we were undergraduates at Manchester University. The first meeting I recall was one night when a group of us were sitting in a room in Owens Park, which was a student hall at the university, listening to records. We wanted to play one album which none of us had, but somebody said he knew who did have it and went to track it down. Five minutes later he returned along with the album and Stewart. I have known Stewart ever since that day.

In due course we all graduated and moved on. Many of the group took jobs or further degrees in the Manchester area, and so stayed in touch. At some point they moved to a shared house in Burton Road, Didsbury, which became the centre of all activity and to this day is the name of the WhatsApp group we use to communicate. I had found a job in London and so moved there in 1972. I could easily have lost touch, but Stewart was the one who made the effort, writing to me (no email back then) and inviting me for weekends at Burton Road.

Over time life had its vicissitudes with changes in career, moving house, marriages and children. While I did not meet with the others as frequently, Stewart made sure we all remained in touch, and I would like to think his legacy is that we all continue to make this effort. As we were all in the same academic year, we all retired around the same time, and there was one memorable New Years Eve about 7 or 8 years ago when we spent much of the evening discussing pension options!

He wasn’t perfect – who is? He could get irritated over trivial matters. But he never lost his general good humour , and was generous with his time and gardening advice – on deaf ears as far as I am concerned but I know others valued it!

So goodbye Stewart. We were friends for over fifty years, and while I had hoped for a good many more I will treasure the time I knew you.