John Dixon - livestock was his life

John Dixon

While he was born and lived all his 92 years in the city, John Dixon was every inch the livestock man.

Livestock was the focus of his life when he managed Harrison & Hetherington's Earl Street mart in Carlisle and satellite sales centres which included Roadhead, Haltwhistle and Newcastleton.

His first taste of working with livestock came when he was in charge of the breeding pigs for Cavaghan and Gray at New Harraby.

John Dixon, who died in November, moved his family - his wife Lily and children Brian, Michael and Joan - to live in Earl Street on Boxing Day in 1947 to take charge of the sales at Earl Street Mart and later to include Botchergate Mart.

His children were put to good use when moving cattle from the marts to the railway station for transportation from Carlisle as John sent them on ahead to shut all the garden gates! John loved his work but he was a stickler for things being done properly, saying to his children "if a job's worth doing - do it right or don't bother at all!"

Not only was John involved with the efficient running of the marts but during the quietest times in the summer he would carry out general maintenance work at all the marts in time for the busy autumn sales.

Another job which gave him great enjoyment was the organisation of on-farm dispersal sales. This earned him the nickname 'Dixon of Dock Green' as he arrived in a grey van fully loaded with extra hurdles in case they were needed.

David Thomlinson, who worked alongside John Dixon for many years as an auctioneer, said: "Johnny was a dedicated auction man. Nothing was too much trouble for him and everything was done 100 per cent right. "He was an auctioneers dream as a back-up and he looked after everyone, particularly the young auctioneers. He had a great skill in handling cattle."

John worked tirelessly for Harrison & Hetherington right into his early 80s when he finally took retirement. Even after his work with the company ceased, he continued to work his allotment, enjoying growing vegetables and his passion, sweet peas, until he was 89.

Of a family of eight - his twin brother Jim also worked for Harrison & Hetherington - John is survived by son Brian, daughter Joan, who worked for H&H for 43 years, four grand children and nine great grand children.

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