Last updated 13:51, Thursday, 26 June 2008

WELL-KNOWN West Cumbrian freelance journalist Gordon Brown died last night at the age of 71 after losing his brave battle against cancer.

Gordon Brown

Gordon, who lived at Monkwray in Whitehaven, was a life member of the National Union of Journalists.
He had worked in the area for around 40 years after moving to Whitehaven from his native Newton-le-Willows in Lancashire.
Besides his coverage of news and sports events throughout West Cumbria, Gordon soon became a familiar sight indulging his favourite pastimes of cycling, rambling and bowling. He was also a keen table tennis player.
A teetotaller, Gordon kept himself super fit and thought nothing about cycling to rugby and soccer matches around the district, often putting his bike on the train.
One of his proudest achievements was in visiting every Football League stadium in the country.
Having started his journalistic career on The Warrington Guardian, Gordon’s own favourite team was Everton and he was a great fan of the legendary Dixie Dean.
Locally, as a reporter, he covered all the Workington Reds and Whitehaven RL games as well as many of the grass roots matches.
It was in the early 80s that Gordon arrived in Whitehaven where his first job was as a staff reporter on The Whitehaven News under the then editor, the late Walter Thomson. In latter years he was a prolific freelance correspondent not only for radio, television and newspapers in Cumbria but also for national papers, not forgetting his beloved Cycling News!. 
A keen cyclist, he shared some of his favourite rides through the monthly Brown's Bikes column in The Whitehaven News.

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