MY brother Bob Light, who passed away just before Christmas, was a motor cycle journalist of some repute and later became even more well known as a commentator on the sport.

I can trace his interest in motor cycles to a day in 1954 when we were living at Trull, near Tetbury.

One Sunday afternoon my two brothers and I heard the sound of motor bike engines. They were obviously racing. We got on our pushbikes to find out where.

Passing Trouble House, we turned left for Long Newnton and soon saw an amazing sight – grass track racing.

It was the first meeting organised by the Minety Vale Club.

Bob was hooked as was my other brother Martin. I returned to bat and ball.

Bob remained interested and involved in motor cycle sport for the rest of his life.

He and Martin also watched motor racing for the first time at the Prescott Hill Climb.

Bob used to say: "We were finding out about our county. The world did not end at Birdlip after all. Those who ventured beyond were not lost forever in the Gloucester swamps."

Bob became a journalist and was Midlands correspondent for Motor Cycle News as well as writing regularly for Off Road Review along with the Gloucestershire Echo and Citizen.

But it was as a commentator that he excelled, using his skills throughout the West Midlands.

Fellow author Dave Stallworthy after hearing him call at the Hereford Grand Prix, said: "Bob was one of the best grass track commentators ever. He used his extensive knowledge, quick wit and total command of the English language to good effect."

Bob had an extensive collection of motor cycle photographs. There was a constant call for these from others who wrote about the sport. They are now in the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum in Hampshire.

Bob's own "First Rich Mixture" books can still be found on Ebay but you need deep pockets. Prices start at £60.

A dedicated and thorough archivist for the Bugatti Owners' Club, Bob was a Prescott regular. His ashes will be raced up the hill there for one final time and then scattered at the top.

Bob worked in the Midlands then in local government at Shire Hall in Gloucester.

He married Everilde (Rildie), the daughter of of Marjorie Davis, first headteacher of Deer Park School in Cirencester. She was an invaluable support. They had no children.

At a recent Cirencester Old Grammarians reunion, Martin Tuckwell, an old school friend, when hearing of Bob's recent illness, remembered him as "quick witted, able to sum up any scene quickly, with a way for coming with nicknames, all of which stuck."

RIP Bob.

Bob Light (1942-2016)