Former Ribble Valley's'village bobby' dies at 97
Duncan MacPheat, a proud Scotsman, spent 34 years serving Lancashire Constabulary and was a highly respected figure in the Ribble Valley community.
A long serving police officer, who spent a decade as the local’ bobby’ in a Ribble Valley village, has died at the age of 97.
Duncan MacPheat served with Lancashire Constabulary for 34 years, joining the force in 1949 and retiring in 1983.
He spent 10 years as the village police officer in Chipping and was also a police motorcyclist in Garstang and was part of the mounted team before moving to police headquarters at Hutton in 1974.
Scottish born Duncan spent his early childhood in Pitnocrey, near Aberfeldy in Perthshire, until the death of his father when he was only seven.
During his younger years, Duncan worked on a farm in Thurso as a horseman, developing a lifelong love of horses and animals. He later served in the Royal Navy before deciding to pursue a career in policing.
He did consider joining the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but after applying for several police positions, he eventually chose Lancashire Constabulary, completing his training at Bruche, near Warrington. A proud Scotsman, he made Lancashire his home.
After transferring to police HQ Duncan served as a firearms instructor, training police officers from across the country. He remained at Hutton until his retirement..
An exceptionally talented marksman Duncan represented Scotland in rifle shooting competitions, winning honours, and he also competed at Bisley, the country’s premier clay shooting ground in Woking, where he received several awards.
Married to his late wife Joan for an incredible 75 years, the couple had a son Ian and made their home in Penwortham.
Duncan had a wide range of interests, particularly shooting, hillwalking, caravanning, woodworking and spending time with his dogs. He was also involved in educational work for the RNLI, something he thoroughly enjoyed.
Caravanning was a particular passion, and even into his 90’s, he continued travelling to Scotland. On one occasion, he returned to Thurso to stay in a friend's caravan, demonstrating the independence and determination that characterised much of his life.
Duncan remained active and fully independent well into his mid-nineties.
Known for being funny, strict, generous, stubborn, quietly spoken and a wonderful storyteller with a wealth of experiences and memories from a life spanning almost a century, Duncan was a grandfather of five with several great grandchildren.
His grandson Alasdair paid tribute to him saying: “Grandad was an inspirational and highly respected gentleman within our family, a true head of the family. He will be dearly missed, but his memory and the example he set will live on for generations to come."
Duncan’s funeral will take place on Thursday, November 19, at 12:30pm at Burscough Crematorium.
His family have asked for any stories, photographs and memories from former colleagues and Ribble Valley residents who remember Duncan to be shared with them.