Farewell to 'innovator of hortiuculture world'

TRIBUTES have been paid to a nurseryman who nurtured one of the best horticultural centres in the country.
Doug Bradbrook ran Ravensworth Nurseries for more than 50 years with his brother-in-law Bill Hannah.   He died last month aged 82.
Born in Whorlton, Mr Bradbrook left school at 15 before attending Askham Bryan College in the 1950s.
After a spell as a farm labourer, he began selling tomatoes with Mr Hannah in the early 1960s to earn extra cash.
From a lean-to greenhouse near Whorlton Lido, the pair began to grow chrysanthemums, cucumbers and strawberry plants as their small enterprise blossomed.
They bought 2.24 acres of land near Ravensworth for £700 in 1966 adding greenhouses year after year and branching out into bedding plants.
The centre grew to be one of the largest of its kind in the North of England.
Mr Bradbrook’s niece and employee at the centre, Fiona Dean, said she would fondly remember his sense of humour.
“He was a great laugh – if there was anything made to do he would do it,” said Ms Dean.
“We took him dry slope skiing once as he was keen to try it – he decided the beginner slope was not for him and crawled to the top.
“He hit the concrete at the bottom and there were sparks flying from his skis.”
Away from the nurseries, Mr Bradbrook was a passionate fisherman and lover of fast cars.
Ms Dean added: “There was nothing he liked more than a standing by a river and fishing if he’d taken time off work.
“He was a very keen and caring person but very hard working. The nursery was his life.”
Former environmental consultant and regular visitor to the centre, Chris Garside, paid tribute to Mr Bradbrook’s hard work and skills in helping set up the centre. He added: “Illness has deprived the North East of a hard working, friendly grower and one of the innovators of the horticultural industry.”
Mr Bradbrook and staff at the centre built the largest hanging basket in the world, weighing five tonnes and holding more than 1,000 plants in 1996.
He wrote a book about his life, Seeds of Success, in 2008 and won the prestigious Harlow Carr medal for his outstanding contribution to the bedding plant industry the same year.
In his own words, Mr Bradbrook said: “I am very proud of what Bill and I have built up in what has been a strong partnership – despite my mother’s warning that a partnership was the worst ship that ever sailed.
“I think we have proved her wrong.”
Mr Bradbrook married his wife Janet in 1962 and had three children, Julia, Matthew and Jonathan.
He leaves seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.