Joe Cairns

Joe Cairns was born in Glasgow in 1940 but left there at an early age as his father was in the Army, and was stationed in various countries after he was, notably, in Singapore, where they lived for three years. Joe was sent to boarding schools in Dumfries in Scotland and later in England where he developed his independent, stubborn, but mischievously humorous character.

At the age of 18 he went on to Sandhurst from where he was commissioned into the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, with whom he served in Germany, Kenya, Aden and England, enjoying himself enormously at the expense of promotion. On leaving the Army he worked as a transport manager, moving finally to Kingston Minerals at Fairford, where he eventually became area manager. When the company was sold he chose to take redundancy and set himself up as a road haulier, at which he worked for the next twelve years, driving one of the lorries himself and working long hours 6 days a week.

In 1970 he and his wife Judy moved to Helmdon with their newborn twins, Duncan and Rebecca. He always maintained that he would never move from Helmdon, in spite of having to drive long distances to work, because he and his family were so happy here. His main hobby was building and maintaining old vehicles, a vintage tractor, cars and lorries, many of which he stored on other people’s land. He will be sadly missed for his kindness and sense of humour.

From Talkabout Winter 1999