30th November 1938 – 1st August 2025
Donations in remembrance of Jim to benefit Pilgrims Hospices.
A man who made things happen
Jim’s energy was never confined to the pages of a magazine. When he and Roma lived on a farm in a remote part of Mid Wales, Jim soon saw that local people had very little entertainment nearby. Before long the outbuildings had become a games room, a table tennis hall and a little cinema, while the rocky hillside had acquired a pitch and putt course. Competitions, film nights and tournaments followed. Wherever Jim found himself, he looked around, saw what might be done and then got on with doing it.
When Jim returned to Rye, that same restless enthusiasm came home with him. He revived Rye’s Own and once again filled its pages with the people, pictures, clubs, arguments and occasions that made up the life of the town. He also helped to found the Campaign for Democracy in Rye with his friend Councillor Granville Bantick. Jim was never afraid to encourage somebody to stand up for Rye—or to telephone them and tell them that they ought to!
Those who knew Jim will recognise the mixture of determination, good humour and mischief in these stories. He knew that the old days could not simply be brought back, but that never stopped him speaking out when he believed so-called progress might harm the town he loved. His views could be forthright, but behind them was an unshakable affection for Rye and for the local people whose lives he spent so many years recording.
We are grateful to Bernadine Fiddimore for sharing these memories in her Rye News tribute to Jim. To his family, such recollections show another side of the familiar editor and photographer: a loyal friend, an occasional mentor, an entrepreneur and, above all, a man who put his heart into the community around him. We miss him greatly, but we are proud that his stories—and the stories people still tell about him—remain here for Rye to enjoy.
