JOHN Dunford was a ‘flying farmer’ and stalwart of the Owslebury community for over 20 years. He died peacefully at the home he built on his beloved arable chalk land at the age of 88.

John, an only child, was born into a farming family in a small village on the Wiltshire/Somerset border. A diary entry from 1943 said ‘sold five rabbits at Salisbury market’– five bob each’ (25p in today’s money).

The family moved to Stoke Park Farm, Bishopstoke, in 1943 as tenant farmers of the Diocese of Winchester and as a country boy with a broad Wiltshire accent, he didn’t take to his new school in Eastleigh. At the age of 15 he simply stopped going and began his own farming career.

In 1950 John’s parents bought Stoke Park Farm and supplemented their income by selling some of the timber from the farm.

This entrepreneurial streak was to serve John well, and in 1962 the family bought Manor Farm, Bishopstoke, which was the Bishop of Winchester’s dairy farm.

That year he married Sandra, whose parents had the neighbouring farm, and by 1968 their family was complete with the arrival of sons John, Mark and David.

John and Sandra worked hard to build their business, buying a farm on the Isle of Wight in the 1970s, around 340 acres of the Preshaw estate in 1983 and a further 350 acres of land from the Longwood estate, at Owslebury, in 1993.

Lower Preshaw and Longwood gave him the arable chalk land for which he had always yearned – and offered an opportunity to build both a large barn in which to store his aircraft and an airstrip.

His love of flying took off in the early 1970s when his mother bought him lessons at Eastleigh airport. He had always been fascinated by planes and as a young boy watched fighter aircraft in the skies above Wiltshire and of course Eastleigh was home to the Spitfire during the Second World War.

He gained a private pilot’s licence and would fly from Eastleigh to Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, to check on the farm. He also enjoyed two fabulous holidays flying from farm to farm in both the US and Australia.

The sight of John’s small Piper plane taking off and landing on the farm was enjoyed by many villagers in Owslebury.

John also loved skiing – an ideal time for a holiday for farmers who are busy with the harvest every summer – and became very skilful on the pistes of Europe.

He was a talented mechanic and could take a Land Rover to pieces and rebuild it perfectly.

Together John and Sandra became an integral part of Owslebury life and always supported community events in every way possible. John would load his pick up and trailer with furniture for fairs and celebrations – and last autumn they hosted St Andrews’ Church Harvest Festival in their barn.

John’s interests were wide and varied – he loved reading, particularly the history of the First World War – and supported his grandchildren in all their activities whether it was sport or choral singing.

He was a member of the Young Farmers Club in his early years and then a supporter of the Bishop's Waltham and Botley and Growmore Club and later the Hampshire Farmers’ Club.

Farming was his life and he continued to take an active interest discussing the dairy, drilling, planting and crop varieties with his sons until the day he died.

John is survived by his wife Sandra, three sons and seven grandchildren.

John Dunford August 2 1928-January 9 2017.