The work, the gossip and the pub - Dave Betts relished it all

Dave radiated joie de vivre in his World Desk years: the work, the gossip and the pub, especially the post-sked g and t, he relished it all. In his final role as a trainer Gwen and I entertained him in Hong Kong and Cyprus and he always arrived bearing gifts for the children, who remember him fondly. 

As Chris says, Dave provided much needed encouragement for correspondents in the third world filing to the audio service. In Nairobi, trying to record a piece, I had to abandon the tiled and uncarpeted office because of echoes and resort to my car, which had been parked in the African sun for several hours. Sweating and hyperventilating I sent it to London where Dave enthused: "That was great, you really got some urgency in it." You didn't know the half of it. RIP Dave. ■