"We met him a few of times but he was always so cheerful, in a true northern sense, and left us feeling happy. The first time I met him, was on our first visit to Belmont shortly after the BBC broadcast about the monastic life. After an initial greeting he asked if we had met before, I told him no this was our first visit, but that I had seen him only a couple of days beforehand on the television. With a face as straight as a die he said “Would you like my autograph?”
As you can imagine for a moment I was completely floored and didn’t know what to say – I mean, was he being serious? Was he joking? For a moment I was completely panicked. I don’t remember how I got out of it, but each time I think of him I am brought back to that moment but only with laughter and joy – no panic.
"We will certainly miss him, for us he was a great character, very welcoming and very much a part of Belmont. We always looked for him at prayer time, just waiting for him to appear and take his place, nothing more. But there was a kind of reassurance that everything was normal when he came, rather like a child who when visiting family checks that everyone is there and finding it so, then relaxes, everything is normal and how it should be, nothing to worry about! And he was always around after Holy Mass ready for a chat. It was a great blessing to have met him and enjoy his company, I’m glad he was a part of our life albeit a fleeting one."
