THE funeral of Whitchurch-based author Richard Adams will take place next week.

The funeral will take place at 11.30am on Monday January 9 at All Hallows Church. The family would be pleased if townspeople who knew him would join them for this occasion.

Mr Adam’s daughter, Juliet Johnson, reported that his health had been “ailing for some time” but he “died peacefully” on Christmas Eve 2016 at 96 years old.

The Watership Down author lived in Whitchurch for more than 20 years, calling the town his “dear Whitchurch,” even writing an impromptu poem about the town at his 90th birthday in the White Hart Hotel.

Mr Adams was a Second World War veteran and was formerly a civil servant before becoming an author.