A much-loved former journalism trainer who taught hundreds of journalists over the course of his career has died aged 82.

Ron Eyley was one of the founders of the journalism course at Richmond College, Sheffield, the first NCTJ-accredited course of its kind in the country.

Derbyshire-born Ron had started out as a reporter at the Derbyshire Times in the 1960s and at one time seemed destined for a career in Fleet Street.

But his switch to teaching in 1969 was to make him an almost legendary figure in the industry, nurturing scores of future journalistic stars including Jeremy Clarkson, BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter, roving TV reporter John Sweeney and former Reach regionals editorial director Neil Benson.

1974 Richmond alumnus Neil told HTFP: “Ron was a larger-than-life character. He had a huge fund of tales from the local journalism coalface which he was never shy in sharing. You couldn’t fail to be engaged by him.

“The scores of journalists who passed through Richmond College in the Seventies and Eighties owe Ron and his team a huge debt of gratitude. It was a wonderful launchpad for so many careers.”

Bradford Telegraph and Argus editor Nigel Burton said: “Ron was one of my lecturers at Richmond College when I was on the NCTJ course in 1986. Always ready with an amusing anecdote, his enthusiasm for the job was infectious and his big personality always shone through.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say hundreds of journalists owe their careers, in part, to Ron’s expert teaching and sage advice.”

And former Eastern Daily Press editor Nigel Pickover added:  “With Gerry Kreibich and colleagues, Ron was a swashbuckling, challenging presence who made our pre-entry courses from the mid-1970’s both useful and fun.

“Many great journalists went through Richmond corridors and Ron and fellow lecturers were delighted with the success their students went on to achieve.”

Ron was born in 1941 in the Derbyshire village of Pilsley, near Chesterfield, the son of a miner and a mum who ran the family chip shop.

After joining the Derbyshire Times, his local paper, he came under the guidance of an up-and-coming journalist called Barry Askew, who went on to edit the Lancashire Evening Post and then the News of the World.

Ron’s career however took a different path and he took a teaching qualification at Oxford before launching the Sheffield course.

While at Richmond – which later became known as Stradbroke College – he met and married fellow journalism lecturer Lyn Cooke, but Lyn sadly died in the 1990s.

Ron eventually gave up teaching in 1993 and launched his own media agency, Peak Media Services, based in Bakewell.

He moved to Ashover with new wife Anne and quickly became part of the local community, with church life becoming more and more important to them both.

After he retired, Ron and Anne moved to County Durham and he trained under the Diocese of Durham as a pastoral assistant, working across several churches in a rural parish.

Elder son Andrew said: “Everyone who met Dad quickly realised what an amazing person he was. He will be missed so much.”

Ron died on 5th December after a short illness. He leaves wife Anne, sons Andrew and Nick and daughter Denise, as well as grandchildren and great grandchildren.

His funeral will take place at 2.15pm tomorrow at St. Edmund’s Church, Front St, Sedgefield, followed by a wake at Ceddesfield Hall.

* The author of this article, HTFP publisher Paul Linford, was also taught by Ron at Richmond College and later taught public affairs journalism at its modern-day successor, Sheffield College.