Stuart Locke-Hart, owner of Country House, dies aged 61

Former Harrods and Saville Row tailor's sales assistant Stuart Locke-Hart opened a tiny gents outfitters in Gregories Road at a rent of £10 per week in 1973 with a business partner when he was 25. Within three years Country House expanded into the much larger premises it still occupies on Station Road and within a decade the duo also had shops in Gerrards Cross, Pinner and Wendover.
More recently Mr Locke-Hart, from Penn, and his partner split the business, with Graham Coates going into ladies' clothing and opening Watercolours next door to Country House.
After retiring he had hoped to travel to Australia for an extended holiday with his wife Christine, whom he had married aged 25.
But two years ago he was diagnosed with cancer of the liver, and he died, aged 61, in a London hospital on Friday with his wife by his side.
Mrs Locke-Hart said: "Stuart never gave up, right to the end he was going to beat the cancer. He was my rock, he sorted everything out."
Mr Coates, his friend of 40 years, said: "He was always there for people, very generous, and with a very good business mind."
Mr Locke-Hart was chairman of Beaconsfield Chamber of Commerce for three years and a governor at Davenies School, which his sons Nick - now running Country House - Edward and James were pupils.
A lover of greyhound racing, he owned greyhounds which were raised in Ireland and trained in Prestwood, with his dog Freedom Emma winning this year's Trafalgar Cup at Oxford. The Racing Post ran his obituary this week.
Mr Locke-Hart's funeral takes place on Thursday December 10 at 1pm at Holy Trinity Church in Penn. The service will be conducted by Reverend Mike Bisset who, appropriately, was previously parish priest at St Giles Church in Ickenham where he and his wife were married in 1973.