Dick Addison

He came from a long line of hill farmers, his family having been in the area for generations.

On marrying Peggy Alderson he went to Stoney Keld with its 2,000 acres of open moorland in 1947. His researches in later life convinced him that the hill farms in that part of the Pennines pre-date farms now being worked in lower areas.

His experience as a hill farmer convinced his brother Sydney, an auctioneer, that he would be a suitable candidate for the panel that contributed to the Yorkshire Post's regular Year Round agricultural feature.

It was launched in 1965, and after 32 years of contributing to it, Dick was awarded a long service medal by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

He continued to contribute up to the time of his death, when the Year Round had appeared each Saturday for 45 years.

Although he did not claim to be in the top flight of pedigree ram breeders, Mr Addison's Deepdale flock of registered Swaledale sheep is well-known in the livestock world.

A keen student in selecting the type of sheep best suited to his farm's exposed moorland grazing, he had his favourite strains. These included Grey Eye, founded on a sheep with very clear eyes; Red Bog from a certain stretch of moorland; and John's Breed, named after an outstanding ewe that his son picked years ago.

Mr Addison is survived by Peggy and their children Margaret and John, seven grandchildren and a recent great-grandson. He was predeceased by their son Joseph.