A WELL-RESPECTED livestock auctioneer, countryside enthusiast and family man, has died at the age of 86.

Hailing from an old Cumbrian farming family, Reay Stanley Adcock was born at Inman's farm, in Wasdale, on January 19, 1922.

In his youth, he was a keen sportsman and made the winning try for Ulverston Rugby League Club when they won the Lancashire junior cup.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, Mr Adcock joined the army and after basic training he volunteered for the parachute regiment, undergoing further intensive training at Tatton Park.

He later parachuted into France on D-Day, where he was badly wounded.

Mr Adcock spent a long period recuperating at the Alderhey Hospital, where his future wife Betty Sadler was frequently by his side.

The couple married in Ulverston Parish Church on October 23, 1948 and had two sons, Andrew and Neil.

After the war, Mr Adcock began his career as an auctioneer and took up a position at Kendal Auction Mart, with his early training carried out under the tutelage of the late Harold Hodgson of MB Hodgson & Sons.

In 1958, Mr Adcock left to join Richard Turner & Sons, where he worked until his retirement in 1993.

During this time he sold livestock in Bentham and Gisburn Auction Marts, as well as managing the firm's Kendal office for many years.

A former colleague at Richard Turner & Son described Mr Adcock as an excellent auctioneer and added: "He was well respected by a vast number of the farming community and was certainly missed by us when he retired."

Having lived in Bentham since the late 1950s, where the couple made many life-long friends, Mr and Mrs Adcock moved back to the Lake District in 1967 and settled in Underbarrow, where they soon became popular members of the local community.

In 2007, the couple moved to Kendal and enjoyed some happy months together in their new bungalow and were wonderfully supported by their new neighbours.

Speaking at his father's funeral, Andrew Adcock said: "Neil and I remember our father as someone who was happy with the simple pleasures and beliefs of life. He loved his family and was happily married for nearly 60 years. He loved his work and revelled in the company of people who had their feet, similarly, planted firmly in the land.

"He had a wonderful dry sense of humour and he was above all a man of integrity," he added.

Mr Adcock, who is survived by his wife, sons, daughter-in-laws, grandchildren and many friends, died peacefully in hospital on March 21.

A funeral and celebration of his life took place on April 1 at Underbarrow Church.