It was with extreme sadness that CAMRA’s Enfield & Barnet branch received news from his family of the passing of David Fenton on 25 April, after a prolonged illness. David first became involved with the branch following his retirement in 2008, joining the committee at the branch AGM in June the following year. He took on an increasing number of roles and responsibilities from then on. David was the branch pubs officer for 13 years, a role which included responsibility for pub protection in the Barnet area and maintenance of the branch’s pub database. This included processing and regularly updating information for Whatpub, all tasks which utilized David’s love of statistics and spreadsheets. Additionally, David took on responsibility for co-ordination and submission of the branch’s annual Good Beer Guide selections and our pub of the year selection process. He was also the branch’s lead judge for the Greater London PotY. David maintained all these duties and responsibilities throughout the duration of his illness, only very recently handing over when he was finally unable to continue.
David was a passionate and lifelong Ipswich Town supporter and continued to follow his team, home and away, until the very final games of this last season. David would always combine his love of football, pubs and real ale. He regularly made the journey from Barnet to Portman Road and travelled to grounds up and down the country. This would often involve meticulous and complex planning, a challenge which David embraced with great enthusiasm. The cruellest hand of fate denied David’s being able to witness Ipswich’s promotion, with record points and goals, at the end of April.
David’s contribution to Enfield & Barnet branch, and especially his commitment and meticulous approach to all areas of his responsibilities, was much appreciated and will be greatly missed. The photo shows David in the Olde Mitre in High Barnet during the World Cup last November. The thoughts of the branch are with Linda and her family.