Lining the streets for Buster: key workers and ambulance staff pay tribute

Buster moved into Streets Meadow Care Home in Hanham Road in 2006, for what was to be a "short-stay" but where he settled for 14 years, fondly calling it "home" and forming strong bonds with care staff and the nearby ambulance crew.

His son Richard said: "Buster could often be seen sitting in his wheelchair outside Streets Meadow watching the world go by. To have the hearse being walked past Streets Meadow and the Ambulance Station on the day of his funeral was a huge tribute to him and one of the most emotional moments for me.”

In 1960, Buster and his wife Margaret became house parents at Talbot Manor, the Church of England Children’s Society Home for Boys on Talbot Avenue in Bournemouth, where the couple also raised their children Richard and Penny. Talbot Manor was home to Buster and Margaret until 1984 when the pair retired to Three Legged Cross and where Buster became a church warden at All Saints Church.

In later years, Talbot Manor opened for girls and boys, with the children attending the local schools.

Richard said: "Buster was dad, grandad and great grandad to our family but he was uncle to the many children who lived at Talbot Manor, many of whom still stay in touch with us".

"At Talbot Manor we had a full-size football pitch and with plenty of other children there was always someone to play football with. We had a vegetable garden and an orchard plus a pet donkey, called Sally and three dogs, one was a huge Golden Labrador called the Duke of Talbot, who would strut around the manor as if he owned it!"

"One of the highlights each year was the Talbot Manor Fete, which was usually opened by a celebrity or sportsperson of the time. I remember Max Bygraves and Roy Castle opening our fete."

Buster leaves two leaves and three grand-children together with their spouses plus six great grand-children as well as the many children who he brought up.