George Francis Lloyd (30 Nov 1926 - 14 May 2015)

In loving memory of the late George Francis Lloyd who sadly passed away on 14th May 2015

GEORGE FRANCIS LLOYD
30 November 1926 – 14 May 2015

George was born on 30 November 1926, the oldest of the 3 sons of William and Josie Lloyd. He lived in a terraced house in Lynwood Road, Blackburn with his brothers Peter and David until his marriage.
He was educated at St Mary’s College Blackburn before taking an Engineering degree at London University, graduating in 1948. After leaving University he pursued a career in civil engineering and joined Stretford Borough Council’s Planning and Surveying department.
On 1 July 1950 he married Dorothy; they would have celebrated their 65th or Blue Sapphire wedding anniversary later this year. George and Dorothy’s mothers were childhood friends, having gone to the same primary school, and no doubt encouraged their relationship. George and Dorothy built their first house on land next door to Dorothy’s parents at 1 Walden Road, Blackburn where their 3 children, Teresa, Christopher and Andrew were born.
Meanwhile George joined the highways and bridges department of Lancashire County Council. This period saw the great revolution in roads. Sir James Drake, the then County Surveyor and Bridgemaster at Lancashire County Council was regarded as the pioneer of the national motorway network and George was part of the team that built Britain’s first motorway. This was the 8.25 mile Preston Bypass, opened by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1958 and now part of the M6. The team set the standard for bridge design pioneering the use of prestressed concrete in bridge decks for the first time in this country. George was involved with the design of Salmesbury Bridge whose three span steel box girder design was the major feat of the project carrying the motorway over the River Ribble and still stands today as a local landmark.
As the motorway network continued to grow, George was involved in the design of many of the major bridges that formed part of the expanding M6 including the Gathurst Viaduct across the River Douglas near Wigan and the 400ft River Lune Bridge near Lancaster built from reinforced concrete.
1962 saw the family move to Lytham St Anne’s whilst George worked on the Fylde Junction Higher Bridge near Preston. This was the first three level interchange built in the UK, an impressive 1,300 feet long and containing 11 steel box girder spans. All calculations and drawings were done by hand as this was well before the advent of calculators let alone computers or CAD designs.
His next challenge was the Lancashire side of the M62 trans-Pennine motorway, an engineering feat in itself being the highest motorway in the UK and comprising many iconic bridges. The Rakewood Viaduct which George and his team designed was the most significant bridge of the project and had to be completed in advance of the main works to allow transport of rocks to construct embankments further west. He was present at the ceremony in 1971 when the motorway was formally inaugurated by Her Majesty the Queen and shortly thereafter he became assistant, deputy County Surveyor at Lancashire County Council. He left in 1974 to join the newly formed Merseyside County Council as Assistant County Engineer, relocating the family to Hutton near Preston. At Merseyside George was responsible for highway improvements around Liverpool and the inner city ring road. He continued working at Merseyside County Council until his retirement in 1986.
George was fortunate to be able to enjoy a long and happy retirement and he and Dorothy took the opportunity to travel. They enjoyed regular holidays to Florida and Spain but their visit to the Vatican and an audience with Pope John Paul was a highlight. They equally enjoyed travelling around the UK often to visit friends and were regular visitors to the Lake District.
Outside work, George was a keen sports fan and lifelong Blackburn Rovers supporter. Before his children came along, he went regularly to Ewood Park as well as Deepdale to watch Preston North End often dragging Dorothy along. It will not be lost on Blackburn Rovers fans that the day George died was the 20th anniversary of Blackburn Rovers winning the Premier league and being crowned champions of England for the first time in 81 years. Whilst, he brought his children up as Blackpool fans his favourite fixture was always against Blackburn Rovers.
In his youth he was a keen cyclist and thought nothing of cycling from Blackburn to the Yorkshire Dales. However after moving to St Annes in 1962, he took up the more leisurely pursuit of golf and was a member at Fairhaven and then Penwortham Golf Club until he and Dorothy moved to Kenilworth in 2006.
George was a committed member of the Catenian Association and a founder of the Lytham St Annes Circle. He became its President in 1972 and had a wonderful year making many lifelong friends. He subsequently served as Provincial Secretary for several years before becoming Provincial President in 1984-85. He enjoyed the many family days and social functions which provided his family with the opportunity to witness how much the fellowship and friendship of his fellow Catenians meant to him.
George was always a family man at heart and devoted his free time to his children. He and Dorothy made sacrifices to ensure they all had the best education and he was a proud father at 3 graduation days. He continued to give encouragement with their future careers even though Teresa and Andrew became Accountants but fortunately Christopher followed his passion and with his help became a Civil Engineer. George encouraged his three children to play sport, the boys took up golf and Teresa played tennis.
One of the happiest days of his life was when he gave Teresa away to her husband Mark. Teresa and Mark have looked after George and Dorothy since their move down to Kenilworth 9 years ago, which has been much appreciated. They also gave George his 2 first grandsons, Stephen and Nick who also inherited his love of sport and still regularly play cricket, although their choice of football teams to support is somewhat dubious. He was always keen to hear about what they were doing and would have loved to have been present last September when Stephen married Viv but his health did not allow it.
Christopher and Jacqui gave him his first grand daughter, Vicki, who is taking her final year exams at Nottingham University in Animal Science. Her love of animals and horses in particular did not come from her grandfather whose only interest in horses was when there was a jockey on its back and £2 each way on its nose. Andrew and Janet gave him 2 further grandsons in Jamie and Daniel who are also keen golfers, having represented Wales at junior level whilst his second grand daughter Emily has again inherited a love of horses from her mother. Jamie is taking his first year exams at Lancaster University where he is studying Mathematics.
When George and Dorothy moved to Kenilworth they were made most welcome making good friends, some are here today. For the last 18 months George’s home has been Kenilworth Grange Nursing Home where he was well looked after and loved by many of the staff including Lana and Mata. Whilst his health began to fail, George was keen to make the most of his last few months, joining enthusiastically in the activities organised by Julie and Sarah, becoming the star of the karaoke.
Our thoughts are with Dorothy at this sad time who has not only lost a husband but a life long friend and companion. As mentioned before, it would have been 65 years ago on 1 July that George and Dorothy married in a joint ceremony with her sister Sheila and her husband Leo. George and Dorothy shared many activities during their long relationship, from working together with Sheila and Leo in Dorothy’s father’s TV shop, Hargreaves in the centre of Blackburn to setting up a Residents Association at Lemon Tree Court in Lytham St Annes and on a daily basis completing the crossword in the Daily Telegraph. Or to be more accurate, Dorothy would put the letters in boxes and George would sort them out and finish it off.
Throughout their marriage their Catholic faith formed an important part of their lives, this was not only evidenced by their involvement with the Catenians but also by their commitment to the churches in the various parishes in which they lived. George used his engineering skills to help with the rebuilding of Holy Souls Church in Blackburn and later the new St Albans Church in St Annes-on-Sea.
George was a true gentleman in every sense of the word. He will be sadly missed by Dorothy, his family and all who were fortunate to know him. However we can take comfort from knowing that he is finally at peace and reunited with his Catenian friends. We will all watch the football results on a Saturday evening and know that he will be with us seeing how the Rovers have done. Hopefully he might be able to put in a good word to help get some divine intervention.