Local People

John McIvor Priest and family man

John McIvor came to live in the Dartmoor village of

Lee Moor 47 years ago - yet you can still detect an unmistakeable trace of northern accent as he chats. Born in West Hartlepool in 1932, with the outbreak of the Second World War, John and his sisters moved to the West Riding for safety - West Hartlepool having been badly damaged during the First World War. As a merchant seaman, his father first went to sea when he was only 14. In those days, time spent away could mean literally years, not just weeks. ‘My dad had been round the world twice by the time he was 17,’ said John. ‘They used to do what was called Brought up a Roman Catholic, tramping - you never knew when they were going to John’s faith has been steadfast throughout his life. He be back, or what would come back with them. I can was confirmed into the Church of England when he was remember having a monkey as a pet - you’d be hung, 17 and following his marriage, after seven years tuition, drawn and quartered if you did that now!’ became a licensed reader in the parish of Cowling in John can recall his school days in West Hartlepool 1967. John was ordained priest by Bishop Robert Mercer vividly: ‘I remember crying and saying to my Mum: “I CR of the traditional Anglican Communion in 2000. want to go to school without shoes, why can’t I be like He freely admits to being vehemently opposed to the the other children?” There were kids there who only ordination of women for many years - but his views have wore shoes on a Sunday - now changed: ‘I can’t see I’d say around 50 percent of the children at that time went to school with “ I can’t see the God I worship making a difference between men and women. There the God I worship making a difference between men and women. There were bare feet - my great- were women priests in the very, very early women priests in the very, grandchildren can’t church - I think it was the church of Rome very early church - I think comprehend this!’ After John left school, he became an apprentice at T&N Baistow, that suppressed it. I suppose I just used to be a male chauvinist pig! ” it was the church of Rome that suppressed it. I suppose I just used to be a male chauvinist pig!’ worsted spinners and manufacturers, becoming a John remembers his first impression of Lee Moor was spinning overlooker: ‘In those days you only became an that everyone knew everyone else: ‘First day, there overlooker if you were a rotten sod,’ he grinned. was a knock on the door - it was Freddie Bowden. He At that time the woollen industry was still important said: “Mother sent this”. There was a bag of potatoes, in the UK - wool sorters in the 1950s were earning the carrots, turnips - all vegetables he’d grown himself. Every princely sum of £20 a week. John remembered the week he’d arrive with his veg, for four or five weeks, until ‘sudponds’ created from washing the wool, when the top the one day when he said: “Now it’s time to till your layer of grease and fat was sold to Max Factor for use in own!” There were very, very kind people in the village.’ cosmetics. But by the 1970s, the industry had started to One of John’s roles was to give talks to local groups and decline and John was made redundant from the mill. schools about the china clay industry that was such an In 1973, he successfully applied for a job as a integral part of Lee Moor village. ‘We had one funny stipendiary reader and welfare officer for English China incident, we were telling these schoolchildren about the Clays. The family - he and wife Betty have two sons, clay and how valuable it was - we meant in terms of the Peter and Graham - moved to what was known as the economy - and there was one lad lagging behind the Church House in Lee Moor and John started work in the group that could hardly walk - he’d filled his pockets April of that year. with it!’

Another time he received a call from an irate parent, whose child had been begging to visit the clay pits on Christmas Eve, after being told the lichen growing there was tasty to reindeer: ‘He wanted to see Father Christmas!’ laughed John. Being so much a part of the community it was perhaps natural that John was also a parish councillor for many years - although he maybe hadn’t banked on serving quite as long as 30-odd years when he first stood for election! n Jane Honey

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John McNulty Passionate sportsman and construction expert

Chatting to John McNulty, you would never guess of some 55 bodies, the unfortunate remains of cholera this sprightly 78-year-old recently survived major victims around the 1850s. open heart surgery. His chat is peppered with puns His strong work ethic is obvious - but he has been a and one-liners that range from the very funny to the keen sportsman all his life too. Forced to give up playing cringingly awful, but always lightning quick off the mark. football due to injuries, he took up badminton and His Northern sense of humour is never far away, which has played to county level ever since, only retiring as a he attributes to a long period in hospital as a child, the veteran five seasons ago. result of a horrific car accident in Yorkshire. ‘I love badminton, you get to do some deep, tactical ‘I was in a coma for several months and in hospital for thinking,’ said John. ‘I was quite an agile type of guy too, about two years,’ remembered John. ‘I had to learn to and it gave me the opportunity to do a lot of running walk again - I have no memory from before I was eight. and silent swearing!’ At first I was covered over as dead after the accident, After moving to Plymouth, John became a dedicated they didn’t know which end Plymouth Argyle supporter. of me was which, I had so many injuries.’ John left school in “ I was quite an agile type of guy too, and it gave me the opportunity to do a lot Work and his love of football became intertwined when he built the club’s new Yorkshire at just 15 years of age. Told by his father of running and silent swearing! ” boardroom, bringing him into contact with then club in no uncertain terms that chairman, Dan McCauley. he must learn a trade, he secured an apprenticeship in By the late 1990s John had become a main board Swindon, later winning the ‘Silver Trowel’, a UK-wide director of Argyle and was in control of the planning, honour, for his bricklaying. demolition and re-building of Home Park. ‘I was so chuffed with that,’ he said. Continuing to study ‘It was one of the most interesting and passionate as well as work, he progressed through the construction projects I’ve ever been involved with,’ said John. Life for industry and moved to Devon in 1970 as the regional him and Rosemary became even more wrapped up with director of a large construction company he ultimately the club, as they travelled to most away matches with the bought out with his wife, Rosemary, whom he married team, becoming part of the Argyle family in a way he in 1966. Elliott Construction undertook building projects could never have imagined. As if to put the icing on the throughout the whole of the south and west of the cake, he later became the football club’s chief executive country, including one involving the unexpected removal officer.

‘I was so proud of that, and the achievements of the club under Paul Sturrock. We gained back to back promotions, three sides of the new stadium - they were brilliant times,’ said John, who remains an Argyle vice president. If a football stadium was an interesting project, surely John’s most unusual commission was the development of a hotel and visitor attraction on Drake’s Island, then owned by Dan McCauley. Although the project never ultimately went ahead, John spent 15 months working on complex plans for the historic site that needed to satisfy 21 different statutory bodies. He admitted he was ‘gutted’ the project never got off the ground but was very proud of the national award he received for the safety and design aspects of the ‘fabulous’, fully inclusive visitor centre and accommodation blocks. If John wasn’t busy enough during this time, he also flung himself into a variety of charity projects, including raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for the Pearn Trust, St Luke’s Hospice and survivors of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. He was also a regular on Any Sporting Questions on Radio 5 Live, when his reputation for one liners found a wider audience. These days, life is quieter for John and Rosemary and he has more time to devote to his photography hobby, capturing the animal antics in the back garden of his Derriford home, which backs onto a local nature reserve. ‘This is the fifth house I’ve self-built. It’s a cosy retreat, we’ve got lovely neighbours - we are very happy here,’ said the MD of Road Tennis UK, who’s even built a court into his basement! n Jane Honey

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