Retired farmer dies in canoeing tragedy

5:29pm Wednesday 11th August 2004

FRIENDS and family of a retired farmer are mourning his tragic death following a canoeing accident in Wales.

David Phillips, 68, of Sheerstock in Haddenham, died on August 2 during a holiday by Lake Vyrnwy with his wife Brenda.

He died while trying to swim ashore after his canoe, which he and his wife were rowing in the lake, capsized.

Mrs Phillips managed to swim to safety but Mr Phillips did not make it.

His body was spotted and then pulled ashore by a member of the public shortly before 2.30pm.

Attempts to revive him failed and he is believed to have been pronounced dead at the lake side.

A spokesman for Dyfed-Powys police said: "Brenda was taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in Shropshire with non-life threatening injuries."

She has since returned to her home in Haddenham where she is recovering from the shock of the tragedy.

Her husband - a breeder of South Devon cattle who had shown his prize-winning breeds at the Thame Show - was well known in the farming community and popular in Haddenham.

One villager said: "He was a real local and will be sorely missed by the villagers."

Another said: "We have known him for years - he was very friendly. He was friends with a lot of people and enjoyed drinking in the village pubs.

"He was devoted to his wife and to his farm. He would never have let any animal suffer."

He had only recently retired, moving from his farm in Fowler's Field, Station Road, to his new home in Sheerstock.

He leaves his wife Brenda and a grown-up family.

A service in his memory is being held on August 13 at 2pm in St Mary's Church in Thame.