Tributes to farmer who protected his hamlet from foot-and-mouth disease

A FARMER who protected his hamlet from the horrific effects of foot-and-mouth disease has died aged 92.
Hilton’s Ronnie Raper worked day and night during the 2001 epidemic to keep the pathogen at bay. He died on March 22.
Mr Raper’s widow, Doris, was married to him for 72 years – one of the longest marriages in the country.
The 90-year-old said her late husband was a caring and loving man who cared passionately about dairy farming.
“Ronnie was a man who loved his life as a farmer – he was a strong man and it was his life really, along with his wife and family,” said Mrs Raper. “He knew who to put first but the cows certainly came a very close second.”
Mr Raper faced down the challenges of the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak in his late 70s – disinfecting 17 carpets on paths into Hilton every day for six months to protect his cattle.
Mrs Raper added: “It got right next to us but never got us because of the disinfectant.
“He was up at 6am for six months then he came back, changed his clothes and washed every time – that’s how we got on.
“We had vets coming in every day to see us and they found nothing.
“Ronnie could not put up with getting rid of our cows – we would not cull them.”
The son of a blacksmith-cum-farmer, Mr Raper attended Ingleton Primary School in 1929 and left at 11 for Bishop Auckland Grammar School. At the outbreak of war, the family farmed 50 acres at High Mulberry before being offered 142 acres at Quarry Grange, Bolam. He met his wife-to-be at her cousin’s wedding when she was 16.
The pair met again at Evenwood’s small cinema before getting married in 1945 and having two sons.
Both went to Ingleton Primary and the family’s long relationship with the village school spans five generations going back to Ronnie's mother, Jenny, who taught there during the Great War.
Mr Raper’s personal association with the school continued into later life when he raffled off gifts for his 90th birthday to raise £917.
Headteacher Judith Pressley paid tribute to his impact on school life.
She said: "We are very sad to see Ronnie pass away.
"Doris and Ronnie have been so supportive of the school with coffee mornings and helping to support the building work.
“The Raper family have had a longstanding relationship with the school which continues today with three of Ronnie’s great grandchildren attending.”