Yorkshire Dales woman completes husband's legacy (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Yorkshire Dales woman completes husband's legacy

10:50am Monday 4th October 2010 in Hawes news

A DALES woman has created a lasting legacy to her husband by realising his ambition after his premature death.

In 2000, builder Rob Kirkbride bought a plot of land big enough for ten houses near the centre of Hawes.

But in 2006, after completing the first phase of the development, Mr Kirkbride was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia.

He died two years later, aged 46, leaving his wife, Sarah, and the couple’s three children.

Mrs Kirkbride, 45, said that despite her loss, she was determined to finish what her husband had started.

“It was a quite daunting time for me, being a mum with a young child, but it was something that I had to for Rob. I had to finish it for him,” she said.

With Mrs Kirkbride as project manager, the small team, including builders Richard Horner and Jack Dinsdale, have now finished all ten homes.

Mrs Kirkbride said all the homes have been built to her husband’s exacting standards using quality materials.

She and her children - Imogen, Lochlan and five-year-old Esme - live in one of the houses and rent out another as a holiday cottage.

Only one of the homes remains unsold.

Mrs Kirkbride said that, as well as finishing her husband’s dream project, the development had secured her family’s financial future.

“But it is Rob’s legacy and it will be here in hundreds of years time,” she said.

The couple’s two eldest children say they intend to work in the family business in the future.

Imogen is studying interior design at Teesside University and Lochlan is studying construction at Kendal College.

And, in another tribute to her husband, Mrs Kirkbride said she was delighted when the road to the houses was re-named Kirkbrides Way.