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Arts columnist for regional daily dies aged 76

A Yorkshire journalist of more than 40 years who carried on writing for a daily newspaper as an arts columnist after his official retirement has died at the age of 76.

David Hammond, arts columnist for the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, had worked for the newspaper since March 1980.

He retired from a full-time position in 1999, but continued to write concert and theatre reviews, as well as his popular arts column, Gallery, which focused on exhibitions.

David died at Leeds Infirmary on 14 February following a short illness.

Brought up in Dukinfield, Manchester, David began his career in the mid-1950s on the Ashton-Under -Lyne Reporter series of newspapers where he remained until 1980, covering sports, news items and various features.

He then moved the Examiner where he started as a features writer, doing books and music reviews.

Friend Anthony Fones said: “We often went on days out either for a meal or into the countryside. One of his favourite places to visit was the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and I can just imagine David now wandering round the exhibitions with notebook in hand, ready to write a review for the Examiner.

“In one amusing incident that I remember at the Henry Moore Institute, he was telling me about some marvellous modern minimalist exhibition. We duly went into the building, and came into this stark huge empty room which was painted all white.

“On the floor in the middle was a pile of builders’ rubble and plastic pipes, the sort a plumber would use for household plumbing. I turned to David and said: ‘Come on David let’s get to the exhibition, there is obviously building work going on here’, before he pointed out to me that this indeed was the exhibition.”

David was conscripted into national service in the early 1950s into the RAF and although he was based in Wiltshire, he did serve time in Kenya.

He was a keen walker and one occasion had stopped for a lunch break, and rested his camera on a wall to eat his sandwiches and drink his coffee, only to turn around and realise that a horse had stolen his camera and galloped off in the field.

He had to seek out the farmer to ask for his camera back.

David’s funeral service takes place at St John’s Church, Newsome at noon on Monday 27 February, followed by cremation at Huddersfield.