Eric Berry, one of the founding members of the Fylde Transport Trust, has passed away after a period of ill health.
The Fylde Transport Trust announced the sad news on their Facebook page recently and the following text is taken from the posting by Philip Higgs of the FTT.
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Eric Berry, one of the founder members of the Fylde Transport Trust.
Born in St.Helens in 1943, Eric developed a lifelong interest in buses and trams but particularly the fleets of LUT, St.Helens, Ribble and Blackpool. This was reflected in the projects he got involved with and led to the creation of the Lancastrian Transport Group in 1982.
Eric oversaw the growth of the collection throughout the next 40 years and the organisation becoming a registered charity back in 2000.
Despite years of rude health, Eric was admitted to hospital in March 2022 and his condition slowly deteriorated until he passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning.
I would like to place on record my own thanks to Eric for not only his work for the FTT, but also for being a lifelong friend. I will do my best to make sure the unfinished restoration projects you so dearly wanted to see run again in your lifetime are now completed in your memory.
Courtesy of Fylde Transport Trust
A lovely man. I first met Eric around 30 years ago in his shop and our paths crossed many times over the years since then – he printed my first catalogues when I took on the model business and worked with me on behalf of the LTT/FT on a few events for both Heaton Park and Blackpool Heritage.
Enjoy your eternal bus and tram rides.