Wit, wisdom and the precious gift of confidence

To me he was either 'W A' or 'Boss' from the day my dad first dropped me off there at the age of 14, in the Christmas holidays in 1986 – the days of The Thinker and Durham Edition.

My first impression was that he had a great wit, a great sense of humour, a great ability to find out everything you were up to without telling you anything and a great way of instilling camaraderie into his team.

He also had a great way of giving you responsibility. You'd look after your four horses and when they were getting close to a run he'd ask you what you'd do with them at home. So you'd tell him and he'd say: "Well, get on then – be it on your head." It felt like you were training the horse, and it made you feel good.