A FORMER station manager of Portland Coastwatch and skipper of the MV Freedom has died, aged 88.

Peter Nevill was a well-known figure who worked to serve the Dorset community when he fell in love with the county more than 60 years ago.

He was born in London in 1929 and trained as a draughtsman but, after two years National Service in Germany, he qualified as a material handling engineer, working for major production firms.

In 1954 he married his teenage sweetheart, Toni, to whom he remained devoted for the next 64 years.

She said: "We complimented each other perfectly. He was the practical, pragmatic on while I was the dreamer."

With a baby son, Chris, they spent two years in Canada, but on returning to the UK Mr Nevill decided to make a complete change of career and came to live in Dorset in 1974 - first in Abbotsbury for 13 years, and then in Preston, Weymouth until 2018.

Mr Nevill became deeply engrossed in geology and mineralogy and opened a shop in Dorchester, Pancraft, where together with his son he branched out into silver and goldsmithing, and getting his own hallmark.

When he retired he turned his attention to occupations that would serve the community, first as skipper of MV Freedom, a boat which allows people living with disabilities, the elderly and young people to experience a trip to sea.

Mrs Nevill said Peter would often going out every day of the week with different groups.

He later became station manager of the Portland National Coastwatch Institution look-out and worked 'like a Trojan' to raise funds for better equipment until he was no longer able to.

Mrs Nevill said: "Woven into this seemingly ordinary existence were the varied interests and hobbies which he pursued over the years with wholehearted zest and skill. He had so many interests, I almost forget how many he had."

Through his life, Mr Nevill became proficient in photography, winemaking, glass-blowing, pottery, water-colour painting, angling, shooting, golf, aerobatics, bee-keeping and sailing - to name a few.

Toni added he was even a good cook.

"He was a perfectionist. Whatever he did, he did it properly and whole-heartedly," Mrs Nevill said.

His links with Dorset go back a long way as Mr Nevill's sister, Joan Elven, along with her husband set up the Brace of Pheasants at Plush and Summer Lodge Country House at Evershot.

Mrs Nevill said: "He was kind and generous, a gentle man and a gentleman, and now rests peacefully in the county he loved."

A 'farewell get-together' of friends and family was held in Mr Nevill's memory at the Riviera Hotel in Weymouth last week.

Mrs Nevill said the gathering was a happy occasion and his loved ones raised £150 for Coastwatch Portland Bill - "his favourite charity.”

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