Dr Timothy (Tim) William Isherwood Lovel (47-54) was born in Driffield in 1935. On passing his 11+, he started at Pocklington in 1947 where his favourite subjects were Latin and History. He told many stories of his time at the school under the headship of Mr Pitts-Tucker. Tim kept quiet at all times to avoid trouble, but this came to the attention of the Head who wrote in one report “he must not always rely upon his cream of tartar”! Eventually his family deciphered the rather tricky handwriting to translate this correctly as “charm of manner”, but Tim recalled that in this at least he was wrong: charm of manner always served him very well.

Keeping quiet to avoid attention didn’t stop this farmer’s son from showing his business acumen. He managed a roaring trade in coloured mice which he bought in Driffield for 9d and sold for 1/6d to his school friends. He also edited the Pocklingtonian from time to time; his youngest brother remembers one piece he wrote stating that at exam time the following quote from Dante’s Inferno should be displayed above the door of the exam hall: “Abandon hope all ye who enter here”.

His favourite tutor was Jim Eggleshaw, the Second Master, who taught him Latin, Greek and, as Tim recalled “so much more, finding a willing apprentice to everything he loved including art, music, literature and history. I once confidently claimed that Yorkshire had more acres than there were words in the Bible. “Prove it” he challenged. So, I did. It took me a week.”

Tim took A-levels in Latin, Greek and Ancient History and won a place to read Law at Keble College, Oxford but “in the nick of time” realised this was not his future. He was very softly spoken and could not force his voice to be louder without it turning into an embarrassing squeak. Once during a school Cadet Force drill when Tim had to shout the commands, he found that if he let the body of men get more than about 10 yards away from him the stamping of boots on the asphalt drowned his puny attempts to bring them back and the Sergeant Major would shout out “Well, say something for God’s sake, even if it’s only goodbye!”

Tim therefore changed course to study Medicine, and when he asked if it would be a problem given that his A-Levels were in the Classics was briskly told “No, if you can learn that rubbish you can learn anything we want to teach you!” and he did.

He never regretted this decision, and his hard work and skill were soon recognised when he won prizes for both surgery and medicine during his clinical studies at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, and he even managed to have an article published in the Lancet while still a medical student.

When he qualified in 1960, he married Diana and together they had five children and nine grandchildren. He worked at the Hammersmith and Whittington Hospitals in London and gained membership of the Royal College of Physicians with the initial intention of specialising in endocrinology. However, a series of locum posts led to him moving into General Practice in Andover, Hampshire, where he built up a small rural practice into one of 8,000 patients and four partners.

During his 20 years as a GP Tim took on additional responsibilities, including the role of Chief Medical Officer to the Trustees Savings Bank, and, when he realised the need for faster communication between the surgery and the doctors out on call, he and his partners decided to build a radio mast so they could be quickly contacted when out on call and therefore potentially save more lives. The radio mast went on to be used by countless businesses across Hampshire for decades and was an excellent example of Tim’s business acumen and Yorkshire nouse!

Tim’s passion in medicine was for the care of his patients which he considered to be of paramount importance, above and beyond the task of curing their illness, and he increasingly oversaw the care of the terminally ill patients within his practice. In the early 1970s, he attended a one-day course in palliative medicine with Dame Cecily Saunders, the founder of St Christopher’s Hospice in London, which was ultimately instrumental in changing the course of his life and career.

That day consolidated his growing interest in palliative care and he later left general practice to become Medical Director of St Benedict’s Hospice, Sunderland, in 1988. He found that the hospice was undertaking outstanding work but was limited by its location in a 100-year-old converted fever ward. Under Tim’s stewardship, the hospice was able to move to more modern premises which better met the service’s needs. He introduced palliative care for patients in their own homes and developed a palliative care team in Sunderland’s acute hospitals. He also devoted a lot of time to advising several other North-East hospices and at one stage in his career was Consultant for four hospices simultaneously, thereby greatly improving the palliative care available in the region.

Throughout his career, Tim willingly shared his expertise and experience through teaching, and in 1995 was elected to a personal Chair in Palliative Care at Sunderland University in recognition of his standing in the field and of his contribution to it as an academic subject. He was subsequently awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science in 2001.

Highly regarded for his original and innovative approach to his subject, Tim was seen with great respect and affection by his colleagues, as a skilled, caring and hard-working doctor. But medicine was not his only speciality or interest. Tim was fascinated with birds from an early age, and they were a huge part of his life.

Tim’s enthusiasm for ornamental pheasants and their conservation led to him and Diana joining with two other couples to form the World Pheasant Association in 1975. It went from strength to strength and this year (2025) will be celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Tim and Diana also started the first International Grouse Symposium and frequently travelled to Europe to attend conferences and events. He was also a keen pigeon racer and in 2020 achieved the pinnacle of his racing career when he and his partner won the coveted Queen’s Cup.

When his passing was announced on the North of England Homing Union’s Facebook page, one friend left the comment: “Fly high Tim, you were one of the nicest gentlemen in our sport”.

He will be greatly missed.

(Alison Lovel)