A POPULAR children's author described as 'everyone's friend' had died aged 84.

Alan Cliff, author of Jack the Station Cat book series, died on Monday, October 26 following a long battle with illness.

There are 16 books in the series - although some are now out of print.

Mr Cliff also wrote a small series of books about “Grabbit and Skoot” Jack’s country cousins, as well as his most recent book which was a history of Holy War.

Forced to take early retirement in 1987 on health grounds, Mr Cliff and his wife Rosemary moved to Rhyl where they remained.

They have four grown up children and nine grandchildren.

Son Nigel said: "Dad was everyone’s friend. He had no airs and graces and just liked to meet people and be interested in them.

"He spent a lot of time in hospital in his later years but it was not long before he knew his fellow patients and the various nurses by name, irrespective of how often he moved ward. He was thoughtful and understanding and exuded the sort of feeling which meant that people were happy to help if he asked, because they were aware he appreciated it.

"He was also enthusiastic about his passions and not afraid to let you know about them.

"He was known in the church for being a good preacher and his pastoral care was second to none.

"He was also a fount of knowledge about many elements of railways and had a particular interest in tinplate and three rail model railways, as well as signalling.

"He was a lifelong railway enthusiast and one-time owner of the Dinorwic Quarries 0-4-0 narrow gauge Hunslet steam locomotive 'Holy War' which now lives at Bala Lake Railway."

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Mr Cliff was born in Morecambe, Lancashire in 1936. His father was a doctor, as is his brother, Kenneth. Mr Cliff however, became a Methodist minister in 1960.

He married Rosemary in 1960 and moved to Edinburgh, after an initial stationing in Gorleston, near Great Yarmouth, to become the youngest superintendent minister in Methodism [at the time].

In 1974, he moved from Scotland to Wales where he took charge of the Wrexham circuit.

During his time in Edinburgh, Mr Cliff created a huge model railway in the attic of the Manse where the family lived. This was the root of his later layouts.

He had a lifelong interest in ornithology and conservation and supported amongst others the National Trust, RSPB and Woodlands Trust.

It was suggested Mr Cliff take up writing as an aid to recover from his health problems.

In 1990, he self-published 'British makers of 0 gauge, 1890 - 1990', which sold 1,200 copies.

Nigel added: "He, like I suspect a lot of dads, told his kids bed time stories when we were growing up and I think this was the acorn from which his later creative work came.

"He wrote more than 300 hundred articles for model railway magazines including 'The Chronicle of Lock's Siding' in British Railway Modelling. Locks Siding was the longest running continuous monthly series by a freelance writer in the history of the world's model railway press. He also wrote for a number of small literary magazines and was the author of an introduction to Christianity for teenagers and adults called 'The Grand Rescue'.

"Dad has been a railway enthusiast all his life and always had model layouts of different gauges lurking in various corners of the house and garage, starting with the one in Edinburgh. One of these is a small layout representing a typical siding area and is called Lock's Siding, after the family business, Locks the Hatters of London.

"Dad and Mum have also owned cats for a number of years, one of which was a black and white shorthair called Jack who took delight in interfering with the Lock's Siding layout.

"This inspired Dad to introduce Jack as The Station Cat into the 'The Chronicle of Lock's Siding' from whence he developed the character in a series of children’s books based on Jack's adventures."

Nigel added that his father 'thrived' on writing.

"There was at least one other book on the blocks before he was taken into hospital in January 2020," he added.

"Dad loved meeting people at the book signings he and my mum went to and he was very good at getting people engaged.

"He had some famous fans, amongst which were members of the Royal Family, but he just loved talking about the books to anyone and everyone.

"The 'Jack' books took quite a bit of time to put together and were done so with the help of numerous people and dad was very grateful for the support they all gave, however small a role they felt they may have played, from typing them up, to doing the puzzles, proof reading, illustrations and finally to print and to sale.

"He gave half his author royalties to various charities and was really pleased that he was able to support numerous heritage railways and preservation societies along the breadth and width of the United Kingdom by supplying a product to them that they could successfully use for fundraising."

Mr Cliff's final book will be published with the help of Gwasg Helygain, his long time publisher.

"We hope it will be a fitting tribute to him," Nigel said.

"He was much more than a writer of children’s books but it was a part of his life that he was immensely proud of."

Guto Lloyd-Davies, director of Gwasg Helygain Ltd, said: "Alan came to writing after retirement from the clergy due to ill health – but his two loves of cats and railways were combined into these charming stories all about Jack the Station Cat and the adventures around Tail’s End Station.

"Alan was an established author when he first approached us to publish his books in 2004. The books, illustrated by his son, Nigel, featured many North Wales landmarks, and coupled with Alan’s character and infectious enthusiasm meant that we simply couldn’t say no. We’ve since published a total of 11 x English titles and two x Welsh language titles with total sales now over 35,000 books.

"He was also very charitable – he donated 50 per cent of his author’s royalties to different charities – each book has a nominated charity, detailed in the title page. Charities include: Action for Children, Save the Family, Railway Children, Ty Gobaith / Hope House and The Children’s Trust.

"The books are normally sold through heritage railways, model railways and many other attractions – but given that Covid wiped out the season for many of the outlets, we’re currently working on an online shop to sell the books direct to the public again.

"We hope that Alan would approve of this very much. He was never shy in selling his books at the many readings he conducted over the years.

"We’ll miss Alan’s humour and support.

"He was a good friend to all he met and we hope to honour his memory by continuing to sell the books, for them to entertain even more young readers."

Details of the new online shop will be revealed at www.facebook.com/JackTheStationCat