Mr Adrian Powell

BORN and bred Bradford on Avon resident Adrian Christopher Powell died on April 26 at the age of 67.

The Bradfordian was born to Cecil and Phyllis Powell on July 20, 1949, and was one of 12 children.

After finishing school he joined the army when he was 17 and was stationed in Germany, but he was medically discharged after an armoured personal carrier ran over his foot.

During the time that he was recovering from his injury, Mr Powell met Barbara Hayward in the town's youth club and, after dating for two years, the couple married in December 1970 at Trowbridge Registry Office.

The newlyweds moved into a home in Woolley Street, where they had two children, Barnaby in 1972 and then Crispin-Scott in 1976.

A year later, however, the family moved again to Poulton in 1977 where they went onto have six more children, Alexis in 1978, Charles in 1980, Charlotte in 1982, Natasha in 1988, Kate in 1989 and finally Cassandra in 1990.

"Adrian came from a very large family but I never really thought about having one myself, it just happened," said Mrs Powell.

After his stint in the army, Mr Powell worked as a carpenter, an HGV driver, at the Bradford on Avon Rural District Council and in the late 1980s he got a degree in archaeology at Southampton.

"He was obsessed with learning about Bradford on Avon's history and took photos of the place wherever he went. He was fascinated by the town so that led him into archaeology," added Mrs Powell.

When his mother Phyllis died in 1990, he suffered from chronic depression, something Mrs Powell said he tried to hide from people.

"Adrian was very family orientated. He loved his children and his 18 grandchildren," she said.

"He was jokey, fun and never judged anyone. He never showed that he was down as he did not want to be seen that way. I remember he used to tell the children not to talk to strangers but then he would talk to anyone, funnily enough."

Mr Powell died at Bristol Royal Infirmary and his funeral, which is open to the public, will take place at the Holy Trinity Church on May 17 at 12pm.

Donations can be made to the infirmary's intensive care unit or the British Heart Foundation.