Echo Comment on the death of market greengrocer Robin Blair

People have expressed their disbelief that Robin, 81, will no longer be at his stall in the covered market and so many have said: “I was only talking to him a week or two ago…”

It is becoming clear that Robin had a personal relationship with practically half the town. He knew us all. He was interested in us all. He always had time for a chat with us all.

With ruddy cheeks, a winning smile and twinkling eyes, he was a real gentleman.

He also spoke up with great passion for the covered market, which had been his family’s lifeblood for 150 years. He received the British Empire Medal and the Citizen of the Year Award for his championing of it, and it is worrying to imagine what the market would look like today without his stalwart defence of it – and it is painful to think what might become of it now he has gone.

Robin also represented an age that is now passing – sadly, in most people’s eyes. These days we shop online and get delivery by drone, or we pass through the self-service checkout at the supermarket, only having a conversation with another human if something goes wrong or the algorithm calls us in for inspection.

Robin was the antithesis of those modern ways. He was the personal touch, a friend to so many people who called at his stall both to buy fruit and to have a natter.

He was always there, an unchanging warm face in a rapidly changing and increasingly faceless and cold world.

His passing leaves a huge hole in the heart of High Row and in the soul of Darlington. We shall all – all of us – miss him greatly.