Tributes to Ribble Valley councillor who was 'a perfect gentleman with a wicked sense of humour'

Ribble Valley's longest-serving councillor described as "Father of the Council" has died aged 58.
The late Coun. Noel WalshThe late Coun. Noel Walsh
The late Coun. Noel Walsh

Coun. Noel Walsh had represented Mellor on Ribble Valley Borough Council for more than 25 years.

The bachelor died in a nursing home after months in hospital following a ruptured aneurysm in his brain.

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Coun. Walsh was first elected in 1995 to represent Mellor where he lived for 41 years and was also a long-term member of both Mellor and Balderstone and Osbaldeston Parish Councils.

A lifelong Blackburn Rovers and Lancashire County Cricket club supporter, he served as deputy chair of the Licensing Committee on Ribble Valley Borough Council, was a Governor at Ribblesdale High School, Clitheroe, and at St. Mary’s Primary School in Langho.

Coun. Walsh was also for many years a trustee of Ribble Valley Citizens Advice Bureau, Roefield Leisure Centre, and the Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Council for Voluntary Services.

He was also a sidesman at St Mary’s Church in Mellor.

Paying tribute, Ribble Valley Mayor and fellow Mellor councillor, Stella Brunskill, said: “Noel was dedicated to representing his constituents and would often call on them if they needed assistance. He wouldn’t hesitate to speak up in support of Mellor, its residents and Ribble Valley as a whole. He will be sorely missed and our thoughts are with his family."

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Coun. Allan Knox, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat group, said: “Noel was ‘Father of the Council’. He was very diligent in the way he represented his village of Mellor. He was a perfect gentleman and will be much missed.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by Whalley and Billington Coun. Ged Mirfin. He said: “Noel was the last of the old school councillors in the best possible sense.

“He told me he preferred to ring people up who had a problem because it encouraged them to quickly get to the heart of the issue they had rather than writing reams about it in an e-mail. Better still he went to see them in person.

“In public Noel could appear very shy and retiring, but close friends enjoyed his caustic wit and wicked sense of humour.”

Noel is survived by his nephew Thomas, niece Jessica and younger brother Robin who said: “I have lost a true friend and a pal.”