Richard was my one of my best friends, if not my best friend growing up on the island. I shared many happy memories with him in the arcade playing cards swimming and later on in the pub. I always thought that along with Kieran, we would still be doing the same sort of things in our 70s. Sadly, that will never be the case now. I can't say how much I will miss him but I am very glad that I had the opportunity to catch up with him again recently as we had previously lost touch with our work taking us in different directions.

I have shared below some of my memories of my times with Richard:

I first met Richard when he joined Ryde School in the spring term of 77. We quickly became friends and I often went over to Shanklin to visit him at his parents’ hotel where they had a swimming pool which we made good use of.

I remember staying there for a day or two and going into Shanklin where Richard went around numerous book shops asking for HHGTG. And of course, the assistants looked at him as if he was from another planet. He was asking for Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but thinking back now, I would have thought he would have already had it, and maybe he was just enquiring to see whether the bookshop was good enough to stock such an excellent book that we both loved although I'm sure my appreciation for it was very much prompted by Richard.

Growing up with Kieran too, we were shocked at how quickly Richard would read a book; he would finish several books in an evening. Although it was quite amusing that on occasion we would ask him about the book or we would comment about something that we .I had read in it and he wouldn't remember!

Richard absolutely loved swimming and was very, very, very good. At school, he won many swimming competitions and we were all amazed at how long he could keep his breath underwater. He seemed to be there for ages and he was much better at that than anyone else.

I have a distinct memory of his dad driving us to a swimming pool in Freshwater and Don't Stop us Now by Queen playing on the radio before it became as popular as it is now.

Later on, Richard moved to Bembridge briefly where I lived. We would sometimes cycle to the arcade in Sandown and even Shanklin.  However, I remember I sometimes had to help push Richard up the hills on the way back.

I'm not sure if I was to blame but Richard certainly shared my love of the arcades and I think I was probably responsible, sadly, for getting him into fruit machines. I have written a book about my arcade memories where Richard features heavily in our times growing up on the Island, not only visiting the arcades but also playing cards, Dungeons and Dragons, pool and snooker and later on playing Worms and Track and Field in Portsmouth in the mid 90s.

At school, Richard was very intelligent but didn't work as hard as he could have done, maybe knowing that his pure intelligence got him through. I remember on the last day of school, he was keen for us to throw him in the swimming pool. He was always a good sport with things like this. But unfortunately, he forgot to take off a new watch which I don't think survived the water.

Richard adored computers and would often show Kieran and me his latest games and other programs. I distinctly remember “It came from Africa”, this weird psychedelic dance program which was similar to some of the computer generated graphics that are often used on television.

Richard was always very jolly and extremely confident but on the right side of arrogance. He was great fun to be around, with his outgoing nature always providing entertaining experiences.

RIP Richard, my very good friend; will sorely miss you.