Peter Craddock

A gentle man.  A gentleman.  Repeated again and again by those who spoke at the funeral service in Christ Church, Castlerock, to celebrate the life of Peter Craddock, on Monday 23rd June 2014.

Born in England in 1932, Peter grew up with three brothers and one sister but it was not until he came to live in Northern Ireland that we can take up our story.

Peter and his wife Jill, moved to Northern Ireland and then set up home in Castlerock.  Not content with moving in to any old home, Peter designed and built the home he then lived in until his death in June 2014.

Heavily involved in the life of Castlerock and a tireless worker for the Castlerock Community Association, it is in his work on behalf of the visually impaired than we came to know and love him.

Passionate about the rights of those who are visually impaired, Peter was a friend of Ronald Sturt who started the first talking newspaper way back in 1968.  As a fellow Librarian and friend of Ronald it was inevitable that Peter would follow in his friend’s footsteps and look to starting a talking newspaper in Northern Ireland.  While not the first to be set up, Coleraine Talking Newspaper was certainly one of the first.

Not content with this, Peter was also very active with TNAUK before it became TNF, an organisation who actively supports the rights of the visually impaired and those who work to help them.

Back to the Coleraine Talking Newspaper and it was not long before Peter had the vision of a group of Talking Newspapers working together for the common good and so the Association of Talking Newspapers in Northern Ireland (ATNNI) came in to being.  While not all Talking Newspapers in Northern Ireland chose to join the fledgling organisation, the majority did and Peter and his fellow Committee members used every opportunity to get the best deal for both listeners and volunteers alike.  It was Peter, as a senior Librarian with Western Education and Libraries Board, who arranged for the Library service to do the copying and distribution of the weekly tapes.  A task which they still carry out today, much to the relief of TN Committees throughout Northern Ireland.

Barry Williamson from Coleraine Talking Newspaper writes:  “I have only known Peter since 2009 when he asked me to ‘read’ for the Talking News. I thought that this was a light commitment to simply read from that weeks papers. Peter had a more substantial goal and a more subtle strategy.

He soon suggested that I learn about the system and the technology from Mary Mullan and the late Mary Riddell. The ‘two Marys’  had been running the News for many years but unbeknown to me both wanted to take a back seat. It wasn’t long before they stepped back and I was pushed forward. Since I had no experience in this area I turned to my good friend Dave Terrett and together we embarked on a very, very rapid learning curve. Very scary. Peter just smiled and said, “ well done lads.”

Peter was a gentle – man who was very dedicated to anything that he undertook whether it was the Coleraine and District Talking News or the rejuvenation of Castlerock. He was a key member of the group that small group that set up the ‘News’ in 1979. Taking the format from those units that already existed in the mainland they used the facilities of the University for many years before moving to the current studio with the RNIB in Abbey Street. Since 1979  Peter undertook many roles and with his gentle approach steered the News through every phase of its being.

He was also a dedicated member of the ATNNI for many, many years and kept in touch with a great number of other Talking Newspaper in Scotland and England and I’m told that he became an International figure in the field.

A few short anecdotes....

When Peter and his late wife Jill arrived from England they were looking for somewhere to live so they looked up the guide book to the descriptions of the various small towns in the area.  They came across a description of Garvagh, “a beautiful little village nestled in the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains”. That sounds perfect they thought and went to look. Somehow they decided to live in Castlerock.

Muriel McMaster remembers going to a Talking news meeting in Belfast and being given the choice of returning by car with Peter or another driver. She choose to travel with Peter and arrived almost an hour before the others. Peter did tend to drive fast.

However, telling jokes was not a skill that Peter excelled in. On returning from an ATNNI meeting with Dave Terrett and I, Peter began to tell us a joke. He spoke for some minutes and then stopped. It dawned on us that he had finished the ‘joke’. “ Could you say that again, Peter?” said Dave. Peter dutifully told us the ‘joke’. There followed a period of analysis when Dave and I tried to discover ‘the joke’ which we eventually did. We then modified and built on it and used it in the Talking News that week. It was quite funny once the joke was found.

Peter was a founder member of the Talking News in the Causeway are and initially they created the resource by using the technical facilities of the local University. Later we moved to the RNIB in Abbey Street. Most of that group have since passed on but Muriel McMaster who lives in Garvagh only recently had to retire because of ill health and Dorothy Black still works at the University. Both Muriel and Dorothy were recruited by Peter in the initial meeting”.

Tireless in his efforts he worked with his wife Jill, to promote the many causes close to his heart.  Peter was devastated by the death of his wife Jill in late 2012 but continued to work for both the Castlerock Community Association and the ATNNI while struggling with the cancer which would claim his life.  In all the pain of his final months, Peter did not despair but gave thanks for a life which had been long, healthy and happy.

Peter was laid to rest in Downhill Burying Ground beside his beloved Jill.  Together again.

Rest in Peace

Peter Craddock

1932 - 2014