RIP David Moore
We were deeply saddened by David’s passing. He was a most valuable friend and colleague to this group sharing his vast local knowledge and attending our events through the years.
He is missed.
The following tribute is provided by David’s friends in the Palmerston Forts Society.
David Moore sadly died at home on the 26th of November 2022, at the age of 70.
Whilst he was a very private person, his contributions to preserving the history of the Gosport and district, and the Victorian fortifications therein were immense and well known. Aside from his career as a schoolteacher he was also very much the eminent local historian and writer, and stalwart of many local societies including the Palmerston Forts Society. David was one of the handful of founding members of the PFS, possessing membership number 005 in its first year 1984.
From those early days his devotion to the society was boundless, and it was in the main David’s vision and drive that widened the scope of the PFS away from simply being the “Friends of Fort Nelson” into a fully-fledged society fascinated with Victorian fortifications world-wide. He also strongly influenced the restoration of Fort Nelson and can be seen in action there, with a pickaxe, in one of the pictures.
David was very much a local man. His mother had attended the garrison school attached to Fort Rowner and as a child he lived close by and attended the garrison church directly opposite Fort. His grandfather’s military service was linked to Fort Rowner and Fort Grange and David was therefore particularly interested in the Forts of Gosport. He regularly volunteered as a guide for tours of Forts Rowner Brockhurst right up to last year.
David will be best remembered by the hard-core of PFS members who through the eighties, nineties and noughties stood shoulder to shoulder with him as committee members, PAV gun crew, and work party volunteers. The work parties and re-enactments were not restricted to Fort Nelson. Gun firings at Crownhill Fort, Pendennis Castle, and Dartmouth Old Battery and work parties at Crownhill Fort and Eastney Fort East were favourite off-site locations.
David was a real stalwart of the society. He contributed greatly to the practical work of restoration and enactment but his ongoing legacy is in the newsletters, journals, booklets and other publications that he was the instigator of or a major contributor to. Much of this is original research and represents an important part of the Palmerston Forts Society archive.
After David stood down from the PFS committee and day to day activities of the society, he concentrated on his websites and publications. He was also able to give more time to his interest in Gosport through other societies and websites related to Fort Gilkicker, Stokes Bay and Gosport history.
David will be very sadly missed by his old friends and colleagues in the Palmerston Forts Society.
This is a reduced version of an Obituary issued to PFS members as a PFS Newsletter Special. It is also available in the members’ area of the PFS website.
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