If anyone were to die, it is assumed that they would want to gaze one last time upon the things that they love. And this is exactly what happened to farmer George Brookes. This man died the previous month, so his family did something quite special for his funeral. They paid tribute to this 85-year-old man by taking him around his beloved cows one last time. The coffin of the individual was put up on a tractor so he could visit the cows that had been so close to him in his life. When George was a boy from Uttoxeter, he would often be found walking his cows home after school. He loved cattle ever since his father added them to the roster all the way back in 1947.
David Brookes, the son of this farmer, as well as the former councilor of East Staffordshire, has quite an interesting anecdote to talk about. He stated that George would often want to be driven around his cows after he had retired. “If you ever needed George he would often be found in a pub. He would always turn up five minutes before it was due to close and he’d still be sat in the same place hours later. More than anything though he loved his cows. He was a character and passionate about his lifestyle and the farm he lived and worked on. He was incredibly proud of us children and his grandchildren, always saying not one of them had a lazy bone in their bodies, which he always taught them to be like.”[1]
A Moving Tribute To A Farmer Who Loved Nothing More Than His Cows
The popular farmer was born on the 31st of January, 1937. He was the youngest of three brothers, and would often play under a local bridge with his brother. Even as a kid, he was always making cowsheds using pieces of wood. In 1949, the entire family moved all the way to Lower Loxley Farm. He met his wife, interestingly, at a Uttoxeter Town Hall junior farming event. They then got married on the 23rd of October, 1958 at the Hilderstone Church. The couple is survived by four children, 13 grandchildren, and around six great-grandchildren.
For the funeral march of this farmer, the family borrowed a 4WD Ford 1000 series tractor. This was then used to drive around the farm before it headed to St. Lawrence Church. This church is located in Bramshall, one of the villages situated in Staffordshire.[2]
Speaking about this tribute, David stated, “We had a proper farmer funeral for my dad and he went to have a look at his cows on a vintage tractor. We put him on a former muck spreader, we had used it a few times throughout the years on the farm. Dad would’ve laughed at the irony of the muck spreader, he didn’t want black cars. My father loved a lot of things but almost more than anything he loved his cows. He enjoyed nothing better than getting my mother to drive him to the cows and have a look at them. He just loved cattle, he spent a lot of time milking cows from his youth to late into his 60s.”
A Lover Of Football As Well
The farmer also enjoyed his retirement simply by looking at the new developments that were taking place on his farm. He was an extremely popular man in his area and had close to 300 people at his funeral. Interestingly, he was also a lifelong season ticket holder for Stoke City FC.[3]
David stated, “He had a lot of things that meant a lot of things, Stoke City, his family, and drinking pints while chewing the fat in the pub. A lot of people gave us tremendous support in his final years. He was exactly 85 and six months to the day, he passed away at home. He had terminal lung cancer, he spent most of his life sucking on his pipe. On his journey he did also go past his home, his birthplace, we just drove around. I’m sure he would have loved it. We had a family get-togeter three weeks before he passed where all of his grandchildren were there. So we were able to all get together and that was most enjoyable.”
Sources
- “Staffordshire farmer’s coffin taken on tractor to see cows ‘one last time’ in touching tribute.” ITv. August 25, 2022.
- “Pastures moo: Cattle farmer is carried to funeral in coffin on back of tractor so he ‘can see his cows’ one last time before his journey to the next world.” Daily Mail. Hannah McDonald. August 24, 2022.
- “Farmer’s Coffin Taken to Funeral on Tractor-Towed Manure Spreader.” Newsweek. Simona Kitanovska. August 29, 2022.
