A FORMER headteacher, who lived in Draughton but moved to Settle on his retirement, has died at the age of 90.

Leslie Clarke, who was head of Oakbank School in Keighley, died in Bradford Royal Infirmary.

His son, Mark, said: "His main passion was teaching and he was very good at imparting knowledge to others.

"He was well liked, commanded a lot of respect and had a very dry sense of humour."

Mr Clarke was born in Leicester in 1925 and studied maths and physics at King's College London during the Second World War.

He initially worked in electronics for Standard Cable and Wireless but left the firm at the end of the war to pursue his ambition of becoming a teacher.

He taught maths at schools in Leicester and Coventry before taking up the deputy head post at Oakbank in the late 1960s.

Three years later he became headteacher, and he remained at the school until his retirement in 1985.

During his time at Oakbank he lived in Draughton with his wife, Margaret. The couple married in 1947 and had two children – Mark and Susan.

Mr Clarke was also heavily involved in Keighley Rotary Club. He served as president of the group and also became a Rotary district governor.

He moved to Settle after his retirement and was still based there at the time of his death.

His son added: "He was a big man, and they called him 'plod' at school because he had steel tips in his shoes. You could hear him coming all the way across the school!

"He loved living in the country, caravanning and he was an accomplished musician. He used to play the organ, the piano and a long time ago played the double bass.

"He also liked photography and used to do his own black and white enlarging and developing."

Mr Clarke's funeral service was held at St Alkelda's Church in Giggleswick on July 20.