Tributes are paid following passing of one of ‘Carrbridge’s greatest’ David Ritchie
Tributes have been paid to one of ‘Carrbridge’s greatest’ who made an indelible mark in community life and on the local business scene.
David Ritchie passed away peacefully aged 90 at the Mains House Care Home in Newtonmore last Wednesday (May 7).
He founded well-known local waste management firm David Ritchie & Sons, starting out with just one single lorry in the 1950s.
As well as being a successful businessman, Mr Ritchie was also very civic minded and served as Highland district councillor and long-time chairman of Carrbridge Community Council as well as being a Justice of the Peace for four decades.
He was a talented all-round sportsman and one of his proudest moments was gaining an international cap from the Scottish Smallbore Rifle Association in the early 1970s.
Mr Ritchie was also very much a family man and his son Brian said: “I was proud to have him as my father.
“Our childhood growing up with him was magical. He was a wonderful father.
“He never said ‘no’ to any of us - if we needed or wanted anything. Or if we required a hand with anything, it was never a problem.
“He was a great giver of his time.”
Mr Ritchie was born September 24, 1934 at 22, The Square, Grantown - just down the side of the one-time Waterford Hotel - to Robert John Ritchie - known as ‘Bobby’, holder of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, and his wife Nora-Jane.
The family moved to Carrbridge when he was aged four and he was raised in the village.
His parents owned and ran The Tuck Shop - opposite the village hall - serving confectionery and ice cream to customers.
Bobby Ritchie then built The Tuck Shop in the centre of the village - the property is now home to Carrbridge Kitchen.
Mr Ritchie lived there until he got married in 1959 to Florence Stephen in Boat of Garten’s Church of Scotland and they had three sons Robbie, Brian and Neil.
They bought Pine-View on Carr Road and raised their family there and it remained home to Mr Ritchie for the rest of his life.
He was educated at Duthil Primary School and then Grantown school. After leaving secondary school, he served his apprenticeship as a joiner.
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Brian said: “He only did two years at this because all his pals at the time were woodcutters and they were coming home with triple his wages.
“He then worked with his father which would have had its challenges as my grandfather had served right through the Second World War as a company sergeant major and he lived a life of common sense."
Mr Ritchie then went into the woodcutting with his friend George McInnes from 1954 to 1958 when he took the huge decision to start his own haulage company.
Brian explained: “He was a pal of Iain Hogg (known as Churchill) and was driving a lorry at Tomatin where my dad was working on a Forestry Commission job at the time sorting the river banks.
“He jumped into the lorry with Churchill at dinner-time and it was a cold winter’s day - and he thought ‘this is a better place to be - in a warm lorry'.
“He got home and spoke to his mother and they pooled their money together and bought a lorry.”
Mr Ritchie was involved with some well-known construction jobs with his very first big job being to strip the site at Tormore Distillery.
His brother-in-law George Stephen came on-board with the fledgling firm to run two lorries and the enterprise grew from there.
When times were quiet in the early 1960s, Mr Ritchie was forced to work further afield including Fort William and even at the Spencer Steel Works in Llanwern by Newport.
The journey to South Wales in his lorry took two days.
“It was tough times so my dad did what he had to do to provide for the family,” said Brian. “He had to go to where the work was.”
The company then worked on the construction of the Cairngorm ski resort - which opened in 1961 - and by now was starting to expand, employing around six staff.
The firm also excavated the site for the Coylumbridge Hotel and worked on the building of the Aviemore Centre in the mid 1960s when tourism in the area was starting to boom.
David Ritchie & Sons diversified in the early 1990s into the skip and waste management business and from that point the company really started to grow.
His sons Brian and Robbie started to take on more prominent roles at this time.
“I had been away for five years when he asked me if I fancied coming back to give him a hand with the skips as things were getting so busy,” said Brian.
“To be fair, dad gave myself and Robbie free rein to take the business onto the next step.
“But dad remained hands on and was so until he was 89 last year. Up to that April he was still at work every day.
“He was not just here taking an interest in what was going on, he was on a loading shovel or might be stripping copper. He was involved in everything.”
David Ritchie & Sons now employs around 30 staff at its base at Granish and has expanded into recycling services, ro/ro, wheelie bin hire, quarry and landscaping products, tipper hire, ready-mix concrete, scrap metal recycling, end of life vehicle dismantling and disposal, confidential waste shredding, inert material disposal, recycled aggregates and quarry products.
The firm currently runs nine HGVs, four vans and pick-ups as well as having 20 items of heavy construction site machinery.
Away from work, Mr Ritchie's public duties included being a member of Badenoch and Strathspey Highland District Council until 1996 when there was a major organisational change in local government.
Mr Ritchie was a founding member of the Rotary Club of Spey Valley and involved with the group for four decades.
He was a long time member and past president of Dulnain Bridge Rifle Club.
Brian said: “Probably his proudest moment was being selected in 1972 and capped by the Scottish Smallbore Rifle Association to compete at Bisley in England.
“He wore his jacket and badge with pride being a Scottish internationalist.”
He enjoyed his football and in his younger days played for Carrbridge and Nethy Bridge in the local welfare football.
Mr Ritchie also played golf and loved badminton in his younger days.
He was always immaculately turned out and Brian recalled: “As kids we remember he would come in from work and he would be into the bathroom straight-away to get washed and organised and put a big slap of Brylcreem into his hair and style it by combing it back.
“He had a fine head of hair and took great pride in it all the way back from the 1950s.”
Tribute from Carrbridge watchdog chairman
Stewart McNeish, chairman of Carrbridge Community Council, first met Mr Ritchie in 1987 whilst serving with the Army locally.
He said: “His contribution to Carrbridge and its community has been outstanding.
“Since meeting David back then I have never heard a bad word said about him.
“His contribution to employment in the strath has also been quite amazing - from one lorry to what we all see now.
“David will be sadly missed as a father, grandfather, company boss and by one and all.
“He has been a pillar of our community, the likes of which we may never see again in this modern age.
“The community will miss him and our thoughts wholeheartedly go to the Ritchie family.
“Rest in peace David you have more than done your bit for Carrbridge and the strath.”
Highland Council convener and local councillor Bill Lobban described him as one of ‘Carrbridge’s greatest’.
Mr Ritchie’s funeral service will be held at Carrbridge Parish Church this Saturday (May 17) at 10am with interment thereafter at the village’s cemetery.
All friends are respectfully invited to attend.
Donations are being collected in aid of Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland.
