THE colourful life of a country character who once battled through 7ft-high snow drifts to deliver food to starving farmers has provided rich material for a book.

Albert Prest, of Borrowby, near Thirsk, endured a hard childhood and is proud to say he has made no enemies.

Brought up on a remote North Yorkshire farm, the 80- year-old went on to be a positive influence on many peoples’ lives.

He achieved a major double in 2009 when he celebrated his 80th birthday and his 60th wedding anniversary with his wife, Hilda.

His life story has been recorded in a book, Prest for Time: John Albert Prest – A Biography: the story of a lad from rural North Yorkshire.

He was born on June 8, 1929, on the remote Scugdale Head Farm, near Swainby.

His mother, Mary, died when he was very young, leaving his father, William, and his brother, George, to carry on.

Mr Prest said: “You could not get to the farm in a car in those days and we lived there until I was six years old.

“My childhood was a happy one, other than when I lost my mother and my father had to sell some pigs as he could not afford to bury her.

“I spoke to a local farmer not long ago and he said he knew we didn’t have the money to bury her, but he also knew my father had some piglets.

“He said he would buy the piglets, but my father said it was too early to take them.

But he paid for them and left them until the right date so we could have the funeral.

“Everyone was so helpful and you could leave doors open. I can say that I don’t hate anyone and I have no enemies.”

The family moved closer to Chop Gate, but before that the brothers endured a harsh six-mile trek to school.

“It was six miles from the farm to school in Chop Gate and to get there we would walk right across the North York Moors,” said Mr Prest.

“It would be dark when we set off and we would take flashlights.

“We would walk three miles on Monday from the farm to where we stayed for the rest of the week and left things there, and then walked the other three miles.

“We walked three miles to school and back from the temporary base on Tuesday to Thursday and then, on a Friday, we walked all the way home. It didn’t matter if it was snowing or raining, we had to go.”

He learned to drive as an 11- year-old and it led to the police, who knew this, trying to catch the youngster behind the wheel.

Mr Prest said: “My father couldn’t drive and once, to make the police think he was driving, he held the wheel and I reached across from the other side and did the pedals.”

The notorious winter of 1947 saw heavy snow fall across the country and create snow drifts more than 7ft high.

Mr Prest said: “The road was blocked, but they cut a walking track through it from Chop Gate to Helmsley.

“I had a motorbike and we put a load of food on the back. I went out to the farms and they were ready for the food as they had none, as nothing could get through.”

On leaving school, he worked at various farms, but arguments over how often he would be paid meant they were short-term jobs.

He ended up at a farm in Bilsdale, where he stayed until he married Hilda at Guisborough in 1949.

The newly-weds moved into a cottage near Ainderby Quernhow, near Thirsk, at a time when Mr Prest picked up £4 10s in wages each week.

Working for Col Littleboy, whom Mr Prest said was an excellent boss, his many tasks included driving and maintaining the tractor, and he was also the head drier for the grain.

From there, he moved to Thorp Perrow, where he worked under Leonard Ropner as a chauffeur and a mechanic.

Mr Prest said: “He was a really top man and, although I did all sorts of jobs, I really enjoyed my time there. But then I set up my own business.”

It was then, in 1955, that a change of direction saw Mr Prest open two garages selling petrol and repairing cars.

The South Otterington Filling Station and the Knayton Cafe Filling Station both ran until 1985.

He employed three staff and also had an unusual canine attraction which drew in customers.

Mr Prest said: “We had a black Labrador called Jasper which would take people’s money, bring it into the till and take change and receipts back out.

“He brought business in as people would come from all over to see him. They tried to use him on TV in The Likely Lads, but he wouldn’t perform.”

A spin-off from the garages was a school run taxi firm which covered villages like Kirby Sigston and Over Silton.

Mr Prest employed drivers to carry youngsters to school until North Yorkshire County Council gave the contract to someone else.

“There was a near-riot when we were stopped from running the taxis and people were saying they wouldn’t send their kids to school,” he said.

“It made no difference and in the mid-1980s I gave up the garages too.”

He is enjoying his semi-retirement as three former garage customers still take their cars to him for servicing at his Borrowby home.

He said: “I am a well-known person and I still enjoy doing the work on the cars. I’ve had a good life over the years and I think it’s fair to say I’m a country character.”

He also enjoys watching members of his family play for Crakehall Cricket Club.

His book was the brainchild of Ted Haslam, former headteacher at Barnard Castle Prep School and the husband of Mr Prest’s daughter, Christine.

Mr Prest said: “Over a sixmonth period, he used to sit me down for an hour and go through stories with me.

“It was enjoyable to go over the old times and copies have gone as far as London and Australia. Such is the demand that a repeat print run is to take place.”

Mr Prest has three children, David, Ann and Christine, along with 11 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Prest for Time: John Albert Prest – A Biography: the story of a lad from rural North Yorkshire is priced at £7 and is on sale from Castlegate Residential Letting, in Thirsk.