AN OVINGHAM man will be remembered every day in his village after a bus shelter was created in his memory.

Two new bus shelters have recently been installed in Ovingham, replacing the exposed bus stops on Castle View.

And one of them has been funded by villager Val Mennear in memory of her late husband, Douglas.

Having lived in Ovingham for over 50 years, Val and Douglas were well-known members of the community.

Douglas, who instigated the return of Ovingham Goose Fair in 1968, had a keen interest in buses and transport.

Val said: “I’ve often thought that a memorial to Douglas would be a bus shelter because buses were his lifelong interest.

“He was interested in transport and how it all linked with each other. People used to come and ask him if they wanted to know the bus times.”

Some years ago, Ovingham Parish Council considered placing a bus shelter near St Mary the Virgin church in the centre of the village, but the plan failed to win approval from the highways authority.

However, residents’ concerns about the village’s bus stops being exposed to weather conditions recently resurfaced.

Villagers were consulted and asked to put their views forward and two sites for the new shelters were chosen, one on Castle View and another on the other side of the road, at the bottom of Piper Road.

Val has donated the cost of one of the bus shelters, and the parish council paid for its concrete base and a brass plaque in memory of Douglas.

Chairman of the parish council, Coun. Doreen Jordan, said: “It is very generous of Val and a fitting memorial to Douglas.”