Tributes paid to 'lovely man of great integrity' as champion of our city's heritage dies at 74

WAS WELL-KNOWN FOR HERITAGE WORK AND ALSO AS PART OF THE DERBY BEMROSE AND LING SOLICITOR PRACTICE

- By ZENA HAWLEY

A DERBY man who devoted much of his life to supporting and campaigning for conservation and heritage in the city has died aged 74.

Tributes have been pouring in for David Ling, who was also well-known in Derby as a solicitor for many years, following his father into the family firm.

Mr Ling was born in Derby and attended school in Darley Abbey and Elvaston, before completing his compulsory education at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon.

From there he went to Bristol University to study law, and which is where he met his future wife, Linda, and the couple were married in 1974. They celebrated their golden anniversary last year.

He returned to Derby and joined Bemrose and Ling and gradually worked his way up to be the senior partner.

He suffered a heart attack at age 36. Fortunately, he recovered, only to discover he had oesophageal cancer in around 2001, which his son Chris said was a "big shock" for him and the family.

Chris added: "He wasn't given long to live but he battled on and was eventually given the all-clear much to everyone's relief. It made him and my mum re-evaluate their lives, with dad taking a step back from being an active solicitor.

"Instead, he turned his attention to teaching aspiring lawyers and took on more work volunteering work with various organisations to give something back to the community.

"He also undertook an archaeology diploma at Nottingham Trent University because he had always been interested in history, especially the Anglo-Saxon period.