FAMILY tributes have been paid to the hugely respected and much-loved Alcester stalwart, John Bunting.
He died peacefully at home in Alcester on Monday, September 1, following complications from a stroke, aged 86.
John, or JB as he was called, was best known for being the proprietor of Buntings, a family-run grocery business which operated on Alcester High Street for 95 years.
Former Alcester mayor and town councillor John Bunting. s
Called the ‘Harrods of the Midlands’, it specialised in local produce, having a memorable deli counter containing a remarkable number of cheeses and meats.
He is also fondly remembered as a former long-standing town councillor and mayor, and playing a significant role in many community organisations.
John was born in Alcester in January 1939 to Eric and Evelyn Bunting, younger brother to Mary, born two years earlier. His grandfather, Charles, came to Alcester from Essex and had bought the shop from the Jephcott family.
Together with the Bowens (drapers) and the Burdens (hardware), the Bunting family formed one of the legendary Three B’s of Alcester, who all began businesses in the town around 1900 and continued to do so for around a century.
Buntings in Alcester High Street in the early 20th Century. s
Sent away aged seven to be educated at Kings School in Sherborne, a private school for boys, John decided to run away at the first opportunity. He made it as far as Bourton on the Water to a café where the staff allowed him to phone his parents.
Happily waiting for their arrival to take him back home, John was dismayed when the headmaster walked in, having been contacted by his parents, and took him back to school, and received the cane for running away.
A gifted sportsman, John was able to make a fair fist of anything involving a ball and something to hit it with, and sport, especially hockey and cricket, was what he excelled at both at school and during his life.
Leaving school with no little by way of qualifications except an ability to recite great chunks of poetry, John came home and helped in the family shop during the summer before deciding he needed to embark on some A levels.
Soon after achieving good results in history and geography at Birmingham College of Commerce, he received his call-up papers for National Service. He was sent to Germany, where he was stationed at RAF Laarbruch as a military policeman.
Although designated a marksman when firing skills were tested at the outset, he was never given the opportunity to fire a gun, and he would joke that he kept the Russians at bay during the Cold War armed with a piece of wood.
John, standing above the shop window, believed to be awaiting the return of Alcester businessman Roger Self, who was the team manager of the Great Britain field hockey team, which won Gold at the Summer Olympics 1988. s
Returning to the UK in 1960, John took over running the family business when his father died unexpectedly two years later. Plans to return to college and study to become a teacher were never fulfilled.
He picked up the ropes along the way with invaluable help from his mother and constant chastisement from his Auntie Rose, or Miss Rose as she was known in the town.
Tiny, as she was fondly called by family and friends, was a pint-sized, indomitable Alcester legend in her own right who was firmly in charge of the fruit and veg section. John’s mum Evelyn, ran the off-licence. It was very much a family affair and brought people from all over to shop.
There was genuine sadness in the town when John finally shut its doors in 1996, aged 57. It very much felt like the end of an era.
As well as running the business, John was very involved in sport, primarily hockey, playing for and captaining both Evesham First team and Worcestershire County, and also coaching juniors.
As well as decades serving on the town council, John was an active member of Alcester Royal British Legion, Alcester and Bidford Rotary, and trustee of the town’s charities, including the Church Street Property Trust.
An avid collector of all things to do with Alcester, John amassed a huge archive of photos, maps, and old documents, together with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the town’s history.
His charity fundraising slideshows of old Alcester to a packed-out town hall were legendary. They were a joy – encompassing John’s wry sense of humour and the sly way he managed to provoke spirited debate about who was (or was not) the ‘elderly person in the hat’ standing in Butter Street.
A first marriage blessed John with two children, Nic and Louise, and, in due course, four grandchildren – Jacob, Oscar, Robin and Iris, whose arrival gave him enormous pleasure.
The last 28 happy years with second wife Bronwen, whom he married in 2001, expanded the family further with two stepsons, Tomos and James.
She told the Observer: “John leaves behind an enormous legacy for all the people whose lives he has touched.
“He threw his heart into making the community he loved the best place it could be and wanted no recognition for any of his achievements.
“He leaves a big hole that will be hard to fill, but alongside this is a treasury of happy and lasting memories and achievements. We will never forget him.”
John was a true Alcestrian who lived a long and full life at the heart of the town he held an undying love for, always striving to make it the best possible community he strongly believed it to be.
John’s funeral will be held at St Nicholas’ Church, Alcester, at 12.30pm on Tuesday, September 23.
