Friends to pay tribute to musician who ran shop near Shrewsbury

Neil Jackson died after collapsing during a game of squash on March 3, 2020 at the age of 73.

But at the start of the first lockdown funeral services were restricted to a few people and there were only able to be 15 people at the service at Holy Trinity in Meole village, on March 24.

Tony Peedle, his uncle, said: "Neil lived life to the full.

"His huge, happy personality and love of music, golf, squash and collecting clocks and guitars has brought him many friends.

"If you ask any of them about him, they would surely mention his fondness for telling jokes which were ever ready and on many subjects!"

In 1960 at the age of 14 whilst a singer with a school group called Tradewinds, he began to teach himself to play the guitar.

The second band he joined as a singer, was the Oscar York Band, a show band in Wolverhampton in which his uncle Tony played the keyboard.

"These two very different music styles helped him develop his music career," said Tony.

In the late 90s wanting to be part of a larger band again he and his uncle formed Tailormade consisting of keyboard, drums, bass guitar and Neil as singer/guitarist playing swing as well as pop music.

Due to the popularity of 40s music, a new band was formed by adding two saxophones, playing music from that era including popular Glenn Miller numbers. The band was named Moonlight Serenade of which Neil was very proud.

Neil's colleagues i Moonlight Serenade will be gathering to play in his honour at the vintage afternoon on Sunday at the Red Lion Inn, in Longden Common, near Shrewsbury.

They are set to play an array of Glenn Miller and big band classics from the 40s. It is hoped that local owners of vintage cars will also come along to show off their vehicles.

In terms of his working life, Neil started work in a photographic shop in Wolverhampton in 1961.

He later joined the Shropshire Star for a number of years, before moving to the Daily Mail Newspaper as a circulation representative until retirement.

He then ran a village shop in Meole Brace, where he also lived with his wife Jenny.

Neil was also a familiar face at the Shropshire Squash Club, where he was a much-loved and respected club member for many years, as well as being a loving husband, father and grandfather.

Neil died despite the efforts of both club members and the emergency services who were on the scene within minutes.

Admission to the event costs £5 or £12 to include food. All money raised will go to the ENSA Memorial Appeal.