From David Reid, Birmingham Met Office:

Mr Roberts's funeral will take place at 9:30 on Tuesday 7th December at St
Margarets Church, Hagley Rd, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4QQ (near the Hare
and Hound PH), followed by a private cremation. All those who knew Mr
Roberts are welcome to attend the service.

The family have requested no flowers, but instead donations can be sent to
Mary Stevens Hospice, 2-21 Hagley Rd, Oldswinford, Stourbridge, DY8 2JR.
Any messages of condolence can be sent c/o Alan Davies, 22 Meadow Road,
Cornmeadow, Worcester, WR3 7PP and Alan will pass them on.

As a little tribute, I would like to post the following mesage. This is an
e-mail that Mr Roberts sent to Phil Wills of the Observations Branch at the
Met Office in October which Phil has kindly let me post in here, I think
this sums Mr Roberts's life quite nicely and perhaps more eloquently than I
could express in my own words. A wonderful man who will be sadly missed by
all who knew with him in the Met Office and those here at Birmingham.

David Reid,
Met Office Birmingham

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Dear Phil and all colleagues and friends,

Well, here I sit before the all invasive computer having just spent a
pleasant hour or so getting my data up to date and in order, and that set me
thinking!

My mind lapsed back some 58 years to the very different days of the post-war
years, to 1946 in particular. It was in that year that I began my
co-operating work with the Met. Office, based then at Dunstable in
Bedfordshire and under the direct control of the R.A.F. as part of the Air
Ministry. 1945 saw me beginning my hobby of "Weather Study" that has been a
major part of my life since. I had been introduced to Weather by the school
geography teacher, all pupils having to complete a week's study of the
subject as part of the geography course. This was, as I convinced myself,
nowhere near enough time for me, so I set about constructing a basic site on
a 20ft by 30ft piece of my father's garden, not entirely with his blessing!

All complete with rudimentary orange box screen, flower pot rain gauge and
wind vane cum anemometer put together from an old bicycle wheel, I began
readings. These were completed at 18.00 UTC due to the fact that I was still
a pupil at school. However, I had been bitten and I forged ahead, fired with
enthusiasm for this new-found hobby. Little did I realise then that I would
still be as enthusiastic 58 years later, though miraculously, still on the
same area of ground.

In 1946 I began supplying rainfall data on a daily basis, to the British
Rainfall Organisation, having by then purchased a standard five inch gauge.
This continued until 1956 when, with Met. Office approval, I began daily
climate readings. At the time data was all hand-written on pre-printed
forms, the totals and means all being obtained by basic arithmetic,
including long division for dividing by 31, 30, 29 or 28. Ask any pupil
today about this and they would doubtless plead total ignorance, the present
day ubiquitous calculator being a non-existent item at the time.

From then on my life followed a regular pattern, mornings taken up with
readings and entry of these, prior to leaving for work at the local school
based almost in the garden. I have led a most fruitful, and I believe, happy
life, with Climate work an integral part of this. The Met. Office, though
now until to 2000's based at Bracknell, have always been a wonderful source
of help and experience, and I have made very many friends there.
Now moving towards 60 years of co-operation, I am still in regular contact
with my friends, though by now relocated again, this time to Exeter. I
consider myself privileged to have met so many wonderful people in the Met.
Office, people willing to help where possible and more on a "family" basis
than as an outside worker. The years have rolled on and I now have a truly
mammoth collection of facts and figures. Fortunately, these have been moved
to CD ROM's so that the information is with the people who can make most use
of it.

As I conclude, the sun has burst through the clouds and is flooding the
house with light. I do want to pass on to you Phil, and all of the staff at
Exeter with whom I have been involved, my sincere and heart-felt thanks for
helping me in times of difficulty keep this station running. I count my
blessings when I look at the TV or read the daily papers and see the dull
and depressing lives that so many people seem to lead. I would not change
mine, especially that part which has given me untold hours of pleasure. For
that I owe a considerable debt to all of you.

Thanks for your help and friendship which I hope to see continued for many
years yet.
Cedric.





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