TRIBUTES have been paid to a man who was a ‘legend in his own lifetime’.
Peter Skitmore was born in 1931 in Brighouse, Yorkshire. He met his wife, Maria in the RAF in Swindon when they were 18.
They moved back to Yorkshire where they had their first two children: Carl and Terry, before moving to Salisbury, where Maria was from, to have their daughters Becky and Ellen.
Mr Skitmore had various jobs throughout his life that led him to becoming well known in Salisbury - ‘You could not go anywhere without someone coming up to him’, his son in law Trevor Browning described.
Among his jobs were working at Salisbury Guildhall as assistant beadle, Stratford Sub Castle School as a care taker and a guard at Salisbury Railway Station.
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Outside of work, he was a ‘prolific’ artist, creating paintings of horses and portraits. He never asked for money for them, but would often sell them for a few pints in the pub.
Some of his work has been featured over the years in the Salisbury Arms, The George Hotel in Amesbury Boscombe Recreational Club. His family no longer have copies of his work but ask anyone who may have any to contact the Journal.
Mr Skitmore was ‘self taught’ - passionate about history and world wars.
Trevor described him as “a simple, straight forward man, but he got involved in lots of stuff because he was self motivated in painting, history, animals, stars - He liked to learn; he liked to know stuff.”
His youngest daughter, Ellen, described her upbringing.
She said: “He was brilliant. Very soft - my mum was quite strict and if she grounded me, I would go to my dad.
“One day he came home and wanted a drink but did not have any money he took the family iron and sold it for a pint of beer! I remember my mum saying "where's the iron gone?”
Mr Skitmore was well known for drinking a brandy in the morning, but would often say 'I don't touch the top shelf'.
He used to say: "I can drink this because Winston Churchill and Napoleon drank it so I am in good company!"
Mr Skitmore died on October 16 following a stroke. He is survived by Terry (71), Becky (64) and Ellen (53), as well as 14 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
His funeral will be held at Salisbury Crematorium on November 7 at 4pm. A wake will follow at Boscombe Down Recreation Club. All are welcome.
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