ONE of Waterfoot's best known characters has died aged 97.

Jack Trickett, of Edgeside Road, died at Burnley General Hospital on Wednesday, following a stroke.

A retired Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School teacher, he spearheaded the fight to stop the former Lea Bank School being demolished and set up the Rossendale branch of Save the Children.

Today, his family paid tribute to a man of principle' who lived a happy life' and said he was always very active.

His wife Edna, 92, said: "He was very well respected, we've had piles of cards.

"Everybody loved him, especially the women.

"He was a happy man and he had a fulfilling life."

His daughter Elisabeth, 60, added: "He was quiet and determined.

"A man of principle who was very clear about what was right or wrong and he stuck to it."

Jack was born in Newchurch and at the age of 12 began work in a slipper works, going to school part time, before being apprenticed for seven years as a cabinet maker when he was about 15 years old.

He made the Rossendale coat of arms which still hangs in the town hall.

He married Edna at Bethel Baptist Church 10 years after first courting her while she was at school.

Edna said: "I was 16 and he was five years older than me and he used to hang about the school gates waiting for me.

"We courted and then I went to college to train as a teacher and forgot about him.

"He kept waiting and never had another girlfriend."

When war broke out Jack declared himself a conscientious objector and was sent to Strangeways Prison for a month. He spent the rest of the war working on the land in the Fylde.

After the war there was a shortage of teachers and at the age of 38 he went to college in Stafford and then London to retrain.

He taught woodwork, metal work and technical drawing at Lea Bank School and then Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School going part-time when he reached 65 and finally retiring aged 70.

He lived with Edna at the house he designed and helped to build for 66 years and was involved with the Quakers and read for Rossendale's talking newspaper for the blind.

He was also a keen photographer, walker and enjoyed foreign travel.

Jack leaves his wife Edna, daughter Elisabeth and grandchildren Christopher, 29, and Rebecca, 25.

The funeral will be held at Burnley Crematorium on Thursday and is provisionally booked for 1.30pm. In accordance with Jack's wishes, his family has asked for donations to the Society of Friends.

For details contact John Winfield funeral directors on 01706 215721.