Fitting farewell to Shropshire steam enthusiast

Joe Lawley, known as Landy, died in Scotland aged 91 on New Year's Eve and his funeral took place at the Church of St Nicholas in Churchstoke.

His coffin was taken to the church on the back of a wagon pulled by the first steam engine he ever worked on in the 1930s.

Family friend Andrew Semple, from Minsterley, said: "Landy was a wonderful character. He had his funeral planned and had told everyone that he wanted to arrive at the church on a wagon drawn by an engine called Fermoy. It was the first engine he worked on at the saw mills – using it for timber haulage in the 1930s and the first engine he ever steered.

"He was adamant he wanted it to take him to the church but when I told the current owner, Russell Cooke, the date of the funeral, it wasn't ready. So he worked all week to get it up and running in time. The gathering at the church was a testament to the extraordinary man we said goodbye to. We all miss him but we were all united in saying we were proud to know him."

He added: "Landy had always been interested in old machinery and when the business was in full swing he still found the time to gather some old machinery, stationary engines and later the old saw bench which was built in Shrewsbury. He was always off to rallies with his family at the weekends."

Mr Lawley was close friends with Shrewsbury Steam Rally founders Frank Hannett, Reg Wheeler, Dick Woolley and Dennis Smith and was among the first to discuss the formation of a rally. Mr Lawley, who ran Lawley Bros with his brother Mark, was married to Joan who died in 1997 and had three daughters, Megan, Jean and Josephine.