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Brian Lay, 1944 - 2006

Obituary; Gazette & Herald, Thursday February 2nd 2006

"Well known and respected Burbage builder Brian Lay died in his sleep at his Burroughs Drove home on Friday.

"Mr Lay who was born in Burbage and had lived in Burroughs Drove with his wife Jackie for the past 32 years was 62 years old and had been in good health.

"The funeral takes place today with a service at 11am at All Saints Church in Burbage, followed by cremation at Swindon.

"After the funeral friends are asked to return to Mr Lay's local, the White Hart in Burbage.

"There will be family flowers only and donations requested in aid of the Burbage surgery.

"Mr Lay was a traditional multi-skilled builder who worked for himself. He was well known and respected for his work and was never short of jobs.

"Much of his work came as the result of word of mouth recommendations from other customers.

"Mr and Mrs Lay lived in Pewsey for eight years after marrying and before returning to his native Burbage when his father, Sidney, died.

"Although he was a builder he was apprenticed as a wheelwright at workshops on the old Burbage Wharf.

"He later trained as a builder and was competent at most of the building trades.

"Recently he worked on the renovation and conversion of the former Klondike road house restaurant at Froxfield (which many people still call the Golden Arrow from its original name) to the Palm Indian restaurant.

"Mr Lay's great love of life after his family and his three grandsons was being out in the countryside shooting.

"He loved shooting around the hedgerows and in the forest. His wife said he loved being out in the open air with his dog as much as the shooting itself.

"He loved deep-sea fishing and also enjoyed clay pigeon shooting at Guy Sainsbury's Cadley Shooting Ground. In his younger days he played cricket for Burbage.

"Mr Lay is survived by his wife, daughters Alison and Nicola, grandsons Theo, Max and Dexter and by one brother, Michael."