James Forster

Forster James Miller
Born 27/2 1925 -Died 21 /11/2019
James Miller Forster (Jim) was born in Haltwhistle where he developed his love for nature. During the war he worked as an engineer He did qualify for air crew but they wouldn't take him as he was in a reserved occupation. In 1946 eager to get away after the war he joined the Palestine Police Force where he served for two years He really enjoyed working with the Arabs in this beautiful country and learned to speak Arabic. He had many amusing stories to tell about his time there. Palestine proved excellent training and on returning to Britain he applied for a job in the Northumberland Police and was accepted, starting out as a Bobby on the beat with a senior constable.
Working his way up through the ranks. He first came to Berwick in the 50s, as a Motor Patrol PC for 3 years, then down to Tyneside. He served in places such as Amble, Morpeth, Whitley Bay and Blyth then returned to Berwick in 1969 to take up the post of Superintendent.
Jim was very much a people person who always saw the good in people. He said even some of the rogues had their good points. Jim advocated that if the young criminals were caught at an early age arrested and charged then the shock would be enough to deter them. The force changed a lot during his career. One aspect he really enjoyed was giving evidence in court but now a solicitor does this instead.
On the morning of his last day at work he was standing drinking his coffee; looking out of the window of his house on the Quay Walls, when he observed a couple of poachers blatantly unloading salmon onto the small dock right outside his window. He had to spend his last day of work in court presenting evidence against them.
Jim always enjoyed working with his hands and was interested in working with wood He had attended night classes in woodwork; So he moved with his wife Margaret to a 17th century house on the Quay walls with a large workshop in the basement. He went on a special furniture restoration course run by John Smith at Alnwick. That started his hobby of restoring antique furniture, mainly chairs as they were easy to transport by car. He then went on to restore oil paintings and dabbled in a bit of painting, mainly local scenes just for friends and family.
Jim had many hobbies; he enjoyed fishing where he was a member of the Ellem fishing club (The oldest fishing club in the UK) and golfing at Goswick. He read the Berwick Advertiser for the "Talking book" which went out to the visually impaired in the town. One of his main interests was the Rotary club which he attended regularly right until 3 years before he died, when he suffered from the terrible illness Alzheimer's. For the last 3 years he stayed in Tweedmouth House where the staff were able to give him the best care for his illness
Jim was often commented as being a true gentleman always smartly dressed, he had an affectionate name known by his police colleagues as !!Top Cat!
He was a much-loved father to his son Geoffrey and Daughter Patrice His 4 grand daughters and 5 great grandchildren. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.