Edward Mann (Passed away 4 Apr 2024)

In loving memory of Edward Mann who sadly passed away on 4th April 2024.

Edward was born on 22nd September 1947, in Grays Essex to Arthur and Doris. Arthur originated from Norwich and they returned there when Edward was quite young.

My Mum and Doris were best friends, and my sister, Claire, and I regarded them as Aunt & Uncle, and Edward as a “cousin”.

Our friendship grew from there – with frequent visits to each other’s homes throughout Edwards’s life. Fond memories of visits to Sea Palling, Mundesley, Norwich Castle and other places of interest. Visits to Essex for him included Buckingham Palace and the opening of the O2, also Meads dance hall in the early ‘70s when I was courting my wife!! Edward stayed with Claire and Stan while he was recuperating from his bypass operation. With their daily walks they learnt more about our local places including the Tilbury to Gravesend ferry, which sadly closed recently.

One thing we will all remember about Edward was that he never forgot a birthday – whether it was ours, or our children’s’ we always got a card.

Edward was a ‘fiend’ at cards – his favourite game being Newmarket. No visit to Norwich was complete until the cards came out, especially when his Aunt Ivy and Uncle Len called in.

Likewise, visits to Carrow Rd to see The Canaries were often on the agenda. My Son and I remember them well when accompanying him when they were playing West Ham!!

Edward joined Norwich Union law department in the 1960s and qualified as a legal executive, working predominantly on property acquisitions and disposals and then later in his career on staff relocation house purchases, a role to which he was very suited with his no nonsense approach.

Teresa working in a different team only got to know him when she found herself sat next to Edward on the adjacent desk following an office move. It was the beginning of their enduring friendship. She found Edward to be a straight talking man, not worried about airs and graces and that you knew where you stood with him due to his honest and sometimes blunt comments. A very kind hearted man, always looking out for someone in need, he did what he could quietly and humbly without making a fuss.

Lawyers are renowned for precision and Edward had an obsession with grammar and particularly the misuse of apostrophes - one time he went through a newspaper ringing the mistakes in red pen – in those days, lawyers were quite keen on using red pens to change things

Even at work everyone knew of his interest in steam trains and old railway lines as it always shone through. Telling him the location of your next UK holiday would invariably result in receiving a short e-mail telling you an interesting fact about an old railway in the vicinity.

Another staff member, Mike, can remember competitions with Edward to see who could find the most awful postcard of the holiday destination they had visited – we have no idea who won though!

Edward loved country music and if he had some observation to make, it may well have included a line from some country song. His knowledge of country music was vast and on local Radio Norfolk he would feature on the Rodeo Norfolk programme, usually providing the station with some tracks he had chosen which had been forgotten by many.

In 2007, Edward retired and so began another era in which Edward liked to dine out in restaurants across Norwich (he was not one for cooking and no-one could persuade him to learn) and usually once a month he was joined by Teresa. Edward’s main claim to fame with her was that he had dined out in more restaurants with Teresa across Norwich than she had herself dined out with her husband, Trevor.

As mentioned earlier, railways were an important part of Edward’s life, right from the afternoon he first spent on Carrow Bridge in 1958, watching train movements in and out of Thorpe station, and taking a keen interest in the classes of locomotive used on the London services.

He joined the Norwich Railfans Club and the local branch of the Intercity Railway Club and soon began participating in visits to railway locations all over the UK. These minibus trips would start at a very early hour, traveling all over the country to visit locomotive sheds and collect huge amounts of engine numbers. Highlights included the workshops, still active, at Swindon, Derby and Doncaster. In order to collect as many numbers as possible he would take himself off to “bunk” (i.e. visit without official sanction) engine sheds in locations as diverse as London, South Wales, York and Glasgow. Local visits included the Hunstanton branch’s very last day and the sugar factory railway system at Wissington in the Fens. Like many, he was saddened by the demise of steam, and he never took a great interest in the diesel traction which followed. Instead he spent a lot of time studying train services of the past and penning articles about them.

Many of us here today know him through the Norfolk Railway Society, which he joined around 1980. The word “stalwart” doesn’t do justice to his role there, for he served the NRS in so many capacities at various times: as Newsletter Editor (both in the 1980s and from 2010 right up to his death), Membership Secretary, Events Organiser and Chairman. His contributions to that Society were immense, as shown by the following quotes:

“A great guy and a sad loss”
“Edward has left an incredible legacy in the work he has done for the NRS”
“A wonderful knowledge of railways and his dry sense of humour, short and witty…when I became Chairman, Edward would hand me a note about each evening’s speaker so that I could introduce him; I was enormously grateful”
“A brilliant asset to the NRS and will be sadly missed. His subtle quips of humour always brightened our reading of the Newsletter”
“He really has done so much for the Society over so many years (decades!)”

In 2017, Edward was diagnosed with PMP, a rare form of cancer and that involved major surgery in Manchester, followed by recuperation with Claire and Stan. Once recovered, Edward got on with life – he wasn’t one to complain or moan – but by the end of 2019, chemotherapy was needed. At the end of the pandemic, Edward wanted to get back to railways and halted treatment to visit some places he wanted to see, but at the beginning of the year chemotherapy resumed with adverse effects resulting in hospitalisation and Edward deciding to stop treatment.

As his health rapidly deteriorated, he relocated to Saxlingham Hall Nursing Home. The staff there were extraordinary, providing for his every need – hence the collection today is for those staff in gratitude of that care. Gratitude and thanks are also expressed to his consultant, Daniel Epurescu whose compassion and care for Edward during his illness will not be forgotten.

Thank you to all who contributed towards this tribute. Whenever you see a steam train, spare a thought for Edward – a unique and kind man.