My dad, Richard Gibbs, who has died aged 73, was a dedicated rural development officer working primarily with communities in Derbyshire. In 2007 he won the “unsung hero” award from North East Derbyshire district council for securing large grants from the European Union to fund the economic regeneration of Derbyshire’s coalfields.
Born in Harrow, which was then in Middlesex, the son of Peggy (nee Shaw), a sports teacher, and Frank Gibbs, an RAC clerk, Richard soon moved with his family to Seaford, in East Sussex, on the south coast. He attended Ardingly college, spending much of his time playing hockey, football and cricket. The South Downs and Channel gales seeped into his soul, and he became a keen walker and sailor.
After leaving school in 1966, Richard took a gap year in the Lake District, influenced by his grandfather Thomas Shaw, an experienced climber of his time, and worked as a petrol pump attendant to save money for climbing lessons.
The following year he went to Exeter University to study geography and economic history – spending time climbing on the nearby sea cliffs and achieving a few first ascents. In his first university summer he went on an overland expedition in a Land Rover, searching for the unreached summits in the Elburz mountains of northern Iran; he detailed the expedition in the first edition of the university climbing club’s journal, Tor.
A master’s in agricultural economics at Reading University followed, before his first job as a research assistant at the Open University (1972-74). He then moved north to Newcastle University, where he worked as a research assistant in agricultural economics. There he met Jenny Taylor, a science teacher, and they married in 1977.
In 1976 Richard joined Durham rural community council as a rural development officer, and in 1985 moved to Derbyshire rural community council as its deputy director. His love of the outdoors was passed on to his children, teaching them to climb on Derbyshire’s gritstone edges.
He became economic development officer of North East Derbyshire council in 1996, until retirement in 2008, when he settled in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and enjoyed a fulfilling decade volunteering for the National Trust at Quarry Bank Mill and working on the River Bollin, securing funding for environmental projects and undertaking many environmental surveys. His final report, completed just before he died, analysed the storm overflows along the river – a topical issue he was keen to see something done about to ensure the health of the river for future generations.
Diagnosed with cancer in 2021, Richard benefited from having the Christie hospital on his doorstep, enabling him to be the first patient at the hospital enrolled on a new trial.
Jenny survives him, as do his children, Tim, Andy and me, and grandchildren, Zakes, Rosa, Naomi and Danny.
