Neil Foskett,of Seaton

Last updated at 19:56, Thursday, 19 July 2012

The family of a musician and former Maryport harbour master have paid tribute to him after his death at the age 47.

Neil Foskett

Neil Foskett, a father-of-two of Seaton, died last week after a long illness.

His wife Helen and mother Pauline said he was a man who threw himself into everything he did and had an enthusiasm for life.

He was known around Cumbria and further afield for his role as lead guitarist and vocalist in popular band Sour Mash, who were together for about 15 years.

Mr Foskett and Mike Dodd, also from Sour Mash, formed new band Pass the Capo early in 2011 and played several gigs across the area, including the Tase Cumbria Festival in Cockermouth last September.

Born in Workington, Mr Foskett attended school in Seaton, Moorclose and Workington Grammar Schools before being offered an engineering officer’s apprenticeship by the Cunard shipping line which took him to Riversdale College in Liverpool.

He spent several years in the merchant navy.

As a single man, however, he was often called to shorten his leave from three weeks to even three days when he was required as an emergency replacement and in the end he decided to come ashore.

He took a job at Chapel Bank, Workington, until he successfully applied to become an engineer at Whitehaven harbour and then harbourmaster in 1999.

He held the job for about 10 years before moving to Maryport.

Two of the highlights of his career were arranging for a large American warship to visit the harbour and meeting the Queen when she visited Whitehaven in 2007.

He was a founder member of Sour Mash in 1996, who became popular around the north of England.

Mr Foskett was an outdoors man who loved camping, fishing and taking his family – children Lauren, 15, and Cameron, 12 – and their dog out on to the fells.

His mother Pauline said he was also very keen on conjuring as a child and became fairly proficient.

He was an accomplished IT technician and was able to help modernise the way the Maryport harbour was operated.

A service for Mr Foskett was held at Distington Hall Crematorium last Friday.

The service was packed and people stood outside to pay their respects.

First published at 19:20, Thursday, 19 July 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk