Thursday 24th August 2011

One of Chesterfield's most famous faces (and voices) will be laid to rest tomorrow. He died last Thursday after a long illness, aged 80, and leaves two sons.

Roy Purcell Davidson (left), or, as he was more commonly known, 'The Pound A Bag Man' was found most days, whatever the weather, outside his shop 'Davidson's Cheese Factor' and was well known and loved by residents and tourists of the town alike.

Last year he'd celebrated his 50th year in business as The Cheese factor and had been at the current shop for over 30 years.

We spoke to Simon, his son, ahead of his funeral and he paid tribute to his dad - and thanked the people of Chesterfield for their support and condolences.

Roy was born in 1931 and, on leaving school, began life in The Merchant Navy (he would, says Simon, have liked to go into the Navy but his colour blindness had prevented that). He travelled the world with them, but most frequently did the voyage to South Africa and back and whilst in there learned bakery and waiting on.

When he came home to Chesterfield he used the money he'd saved to begin a business selling vacuum cleaners door to door alongside Bernie Clifton with whom he remained friendly up to his death.

Another chapter in his life began when he bought his Hady property and began keeping poultry which he sold on the cattle market.

When he moved to a stall on the market proper he also diversified into cheese and then bread - finally ending up with 5 stalls!

Moving into a shop in Low Pavements on a short term contract for one or two years led to him staying there for 15! He then made his final move to the Market Hall where the shop - and Roy - served for over 30 years.

Simon told us his dad loved boxing and, after leaving the Merchant Navy, continued to help train young boxers at gyms locally. He also bred Alsatian dogs.

He also paid tribute to his dad saying "He'll be sadly missed. I'd like to thank people in the town - they've been fantastic and loads of people have come into the shop to pay their condolences and offer support. We've had some unbelievable cards and donations for Ashgate Hospice already."

The Hospice will be the chosen charity for donations at the funeral tomorrow and Simon says it's what his dad would have wanted, "He was a great believer in Ashgate Hospice - he wasn't a big charity person but he knew what a great job they do, they'd done it for friends of his."

The funeral takes place at 3.30 pm tomorrow (Friday 26th) at the Crematorium and afterwards at The Casa hotel. The shop will be closed as a mark of respect tomorrow afternoon.

Sincere condolences on behalf of the Chesterfield Post and its readers go to the family.

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