Harry Watson

He gave up his education to take up a once-in-three-years opportunity to become a junior reporter on his local weekly newspaper, the Craven Herald, based in Skipton.

He was so determined to be a journalist that he took the job even

though he worked unpaid for the first year, something which was accepted at the time.

He was born in Leeds, but the family lived in Skipton where his father had a tailoring business, and he was educated at Ermysted's Grammar School.

During the Second World War he served in the RAF, initially as a Morse code instructor, but towards the end of the war he was posted to Singapore and worked as a reporter on SEAC, the Services' newspaper of South East Asia Command.

After the war he was involved in the Berlin Airlift following the Soviet Union's blockade of the city's road and rail access, which was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. Between June, 1948 and May 1949 the RAF, and United States Air Force, flew over 200,000 flights supplying the people of West Berlin with 13,000 tons of daily necessities.

On demobilisation Mr Watson returned to Yorkshire and his journalism career working for the Yorkshire Evening News until it closed in 1963 when he joined its rival, the Yorkshire Evening Post, as a reporter. He worked his way up until he retired in1987 as Assistant Editor (production). One of his jobs during that time was working as a team of three writing its noted Oliver restaurant reviews.

Having left school without any educational qualifications Mr Watson redressed that by firstly passing O and A-levels in his 60s so that he study for an Open University degree, gaining a BA in history and economics in 1982. Two years later he added to that with an honours degree.

Following retirement and by then living in Burley in Wharefedale, he set up his own company and continued to write restaurant guides which were published as small booklets for local areas.

Mr Watson's wife, Margery, died following a house fire in 2006 and he then moved to Leeds to live with his elder son Kevin. His other son, David, is a sheep farmer in Canada.

He is survived by his two sons and three grandchildren.