It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Steve Moran. Steve passed away following a short illness on 15th June 2016 with his family at his bedside.
Steve was Co-Founder and Trustee of the Friends of Williamson’s Tunnels. He devoted his life to the Tunnels, his passion for progress being the driving force of FoWT from the start. But even outside of the tunnels, he was the most generous and helpful person, always happy to help anyone that needed it.
Steve will be missed by all that knew him, we send our deepest sympathy to his Wife Joyce and his family.
Rest in Peace Steve.
Updated
One of the last jobs that Steve worked on before being taken ill, was at Liverpool’s Town Hall. He was delighted and proud to be given the job of renovating and painting the railings and metal work all around the outside of the building. Steve completed this task with great pride and skill, as he always did with his endeavours.
As a result, Steve and his family were delighted that in early May 2016, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Tony Conception, visited Steve in Hospital specially to present him with a certificate of recognition for his work in helping maintain the city’s historic buildings over the years. I was thrilled to be given this photograph taken on the day by Steve’s very good friend William Jamieson.
Details of Steve’s funeral will be published in the Liverpool Echo on Monday 20th June.
You were the heart and soul of the tunnels and good friend to us all.
We will miss you…
Good Night Steve
Steve was a lovely man, a friend to everyone and without him the tunnels would have remained un explored. My condolences to Joyce and family
A lovely lovely man, we have all been fortunate to have been able to call him a friend. He will be sadly missed by all.
A Legend and Gent, with a heart as big as Liverpool. Sleep tight Lad until we meet again. Deepest sympathy to Joyce, Richard, Stephen, Sarah, William and Clara, Laura and Lucy. Robert, Marie, Georgie and Tina. Xxx
R.I.P Ste,never will be forgotten Mate
Ste, we will both have fond memories of you. We loved our trip to the Philharmonic and will always remember. Lots of love Georgia and Erika xx
It’s such a sad loss. To the Williamson tunnels movement, and to all who had the privilege of his friendship. I remember a small group of us meeting in Autumn 1996, strangers at the time, to see about forming a society to save the tunnels. Steve drove that forward with such passion, resolve and strength and those qualities were to the fore for the next 20 years, right up to today. He was a generous and decent man too, who had time for everyone and who had many skills and interests away from the tunnels. And despite the sadness of today we have so many funny and exciting memories of Steve, which will always be remembered. So long for now my old pal. We’ll keep digging.
R.I.P. Steve, we will be miss you, he is a wonderful and fantastic man, thinking of his family xxx
It was Steves passion and enthusiasm that made me “sign on the dotted line ” I was proud to call him a friend.
an enthusiastic and well informed lover of Liverpool history especially the Williamson tunnels, a pleasure to work with, we will all miss him a lot,cheers steve big al
So long steve you will be missed bye evryone you were a great friend of us all and you help a lot of people with thining if they not know whst it is and thank you for been my friend now you rest your is now done
Liverpool has called one of its own home, and the loss everyone feels cannot be measured in words, I only met and worked with Steve a few times, but will always remember how completely at ease he made me feel, and like I’d known him forever, and I loved working with him. I know without him, I wouldn’t have the privilege of working in the tunnels and I’ll continue helping to uncover what he started, as long as there’s work to do, we won’t let you down steve. Goodnight and God bless buddy. I’m going to miss you. Xxx
I only met Steve twice but his passion and enthusiasm for the tunnels was obvious. I am privileged to be a member of FOWT and am grateful to Steve for all his efforts in establishing this wonderful project.
Steve was brilliant. So enthusiastic, you knew when he was on site! If he was giving a guided tour, he’d be down there for hours, it’d take a lot to get him back up, well, at least the sound of an ice cream van! We all dressed up in period costume a few years back for the Heritage Weekend, me as Joseph Williamson, just one weekend, but every time I arrived on site after that, he’d shout “It’s Mr Williamson! Where’s your top hat lad?”. So knowledgable, so vibrant, and I’m so honoured to have known him. He’ll be genuinely missed, and never ever forgotten. Thanks for everything mate. Mike
RIP Steve Moran you were a very remarkable man who worked so hard for FOWT and anything you thought was the right thing going to miss this wonderful man and the friendship we made all our sympathies go out to his family and friends xxxxxx
You was always Smiling and Laughing every time we met. A very happy and friendly man. RIP Steve.
RIP steve it was such an honour to get to know you and work with you at the tunnels every week your tours were legendry and the enthusiasm you had for the history of not only the tunnels but all of liverpool was amazing you always had time to listen and talk to all of us. the rest of us moles will continue your work miss you mate deepest sympathy to all steves family
What more can one say that has not already been said?
I didn’t live in Liverpool for long but Steve will remain with me for the rest of my life. We got on well, we visited each other, we worked at FoWT together, he introduced me to behind the scenes at art galleries, we sahred the odd pint and he was, good honest and straight. i’m glad to have seen him in April (2016) on my last visit.
I know he wanted to come and visit me to see the castle at Guedelon being built using medieval techniques near my place in France, he never got here but he did see the bottom of the hole at Paddington as well as being the first one in at the top. Cheers mate, goodbye.
Seth REEDER, Burgundy, France.
May the rest of us fulfill all your dreams Steve. Sleep peacefully. DonH.
I met Steve Moran around 17 years ago after joining FoWT. I very quickly became a Volunteer and active Member after Steve rang me up one day. Since then I have regularly worked alongside Steve at various tunnel locations including shows etc. He always inspired me over the years and kept the spirit going with his enthusiasm and sense of humour. It has been a very upsetting time over the last couple of month’s since learning of Steve’s illness and I think that thanks to Steve FoWT will remain strong and carry on in the great bunch of Volunteers we now have. All this thanks to you Steve, -co founder of FoWT! Rest in Peace from Andy.
Rest in Peace Steve, thank you for all you have done for my family and it was great working alongside you, always with your classical music on in the background! Such a knowledgeable man and you were always happy and smiling and made me laugh when you used to turn up to the FoWT Members Meetings and be sat eating a Muffin!! You will be missed dearly and I send my condolences to your family. Love from Pam xxx
I have had a couple of days not to process Steve’s passing and the biggest revelation and shock has been the difference between Steve the man and Steve the legend. Many of you know Steve a lot more than I do, and everyone has rightly been lamenting the loss of Steve the man, “lovely”, “helpful”, “generous”, “a gent”, “knowledgeable”, “passionate” and so on, with many people fleshing out the profile of the person we knew. However, it is only when someone has gone, you see the hole they leave behind and I have to say I am a bit shocked at how great a hole it is in Steve’s case. As I pointed out on Facebook, a few days before he passed, I was loaned Steve’s archive of just the railway in Edge Hill, and I briefly went through it with Chris last Saturday, but even then, I was a bit overcome and overwhelmed and I ended up bringing it home with me to figure out a plan of how to preserve it and make the best use of it. However, all that was put on hold when I heard the news on Wednesday. I said to Chris that I would make a post, and scan in one of his many items to give an indication of what he has been doing over the years. Well I opened the archive and it is not that I underestimated Steve, but reading through his material left me in awe of how much he had done, just on the railway. The more I read, the more I was unable to find one thing that would suffice as a touchstone to convey what this man has been doing all these years. I am still struggling to convey the worth of his work, but let me start by throwing in a few more words to describe him…. “Informed”, “diligent”, “hard working”… “Loving”. So while everyone is missing the man, this archive has left me mourning the legend and I just wish I had the chance to thank him in person. He was an engine of historic preservation, and I implore everyone to take the chance to look at his records for the Tunnels and the Railway, and anything else he had an interest in. I assure you, you will somehow raise your opinion of him, even if you don’t think that is possible, for I tell you this man was a legend, because, by the very definition of the word, Steve Moran has left us all a legacy. So dismiss any thought of the world being a poorer place for Steve’s passing, because it is not, he has done more than enough for so many people, that his dreams will continue, he will continue.
Steve will be missed by all, he was so enthusiast in everything he did and had to have it done right.
He had many ideas about the tunnels and what to use them for, sadly he will not see what they end up being used for.
R I P
Tom M
Steve was my first contact with FoWT on the rally field at RAF Woodvale some years ago. He stood outside the tent, thrust a leaflet in my hand and invited me to come in and look at the displays. He impressed me then with his enthusiasm and he’s never ceased to impress me since with his enthusiasm, passion and vision. Steve threw himself into everything he was involved with, with all his heart and soul, and many would be surprised at just how wide his interests, skills and knowledge are spread. When his legacy is unfolded, we will all be amazed at how much he crammed into his life, besides being the driving force behind twenty years of the Williamson Tunnels. It has been a pleasure to have worked alongside Steve for the last 8 years and to have learned so much from him. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him and worked alongside him, and special thoughts go to all his family. Rest in peace old friend. Time to take it easy Lad.
Tom
I have just heard the very sad news about Steve. I volunteered a couple of times at the Paddington site and Steve was always cheerful, knowledgeable and very friendly.
Rest in Peace Steve
Tim – North Wales
I have just heard the very sad news about Steve. I volunteered a couple of times at Paddington and Steve was always helpful, cheerful and eager to share his vast knowledge about the tunnels.
He will be missed.
Tim – North Wales