Manager of Wisbech’s Rose & Crown Hotel in the late 50s and early 60s dies

Richard Glass (Image: Archant)

Richard Glass, of Bolton, was manager of the Rose & Crown in Wisbech between 1955 and 1964.

Richard Glass (Image: Archant)

He was born in Islington and educated at Hurstpierpoint College in West Sussex before doing his national Service in the Royal Army Catering Corp.

Richard Glass (Image: Archant)

He then attended the prestigious Westminster College Hospitality Training School in London.

Richard spent a year in Paris to gain experience, during which he served afternoon tea to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor at the Cafe de Paris.

After returning to England he took assistant and finally hotel manager roles.

He met his first wife Margaret in Colchester in 1954 and the following year they got married and moved to Wisbech.

His son Nick was born the year after his parents settled in Wisbech and has happy memories of growing up in the hotel.

He said: “I always remember playing in the garden and climbing a tree with my father at the bottom making sure I did not fall down.

“Being brought up in a hotel was like living in a big playground and I was always getting in to trouble with the staff.

“My father had many functions at the hotel - I can remember the masonic lodge meeting there and there were band nights as well.

“My parents loved Wisbech and didn’t really want to leave.”

Richard left Wisbech to run hotels in Bath and Bolton before moving to Blackpool where he bought and ran his own small hotel.

Eventually, he decided he wanted a change from running hotels and moved to Corby, where he worked as a soil engineer for McAlpine’s, before retiring to concentrate on his garden and family.

He lived there until moving up to Bolton a few months before his death.

He is being cremated tomorrow at Overdale Crematorium in Bolton.

You can make a donation on Richard’s behalf to Cancer Research UK or visit the www.justgiving.com/Richard-M-Glass