Bill Hooker was a man with a special talent for fixing and restoring just about anything mechanical – earning him the reputation as the ‘Fred Dibnah of Kent’.

But his prize vehicle was a magnificent wartime truck, complete with a search light, which he proudly took to vintage shows around the county.

It even landed him with a television moment on one of the most popular television shows of the 1980s.

So it was only fitting that after his death at the age of 86, it was his beloved Second World War Tilling-Stevens that carried him to the crematorium.

Bill, from Sandwich, was a self-taught engineer who left school at a young age.

But his skills for all things mechanical were honed working on farms and in a scrap yard, where his love of old vehicles developed.

“People were amazed at how much experience my dad had, given that he had no education to speak of and was self-taught as an engineer,” said his middle daughter, Jane.

“All the things he achieved in life were by his own hard work and determination.

“He could turn his hand to anything.

“There are many examples of his handiwork dotted around to remind us of him, including the miniature lorries he created and the weather vanes chattering away in the wind in our back garden.”

Bill found television fame on Cilla Black’s Surprise Surprise when he was picked from the audience and his Tilling searchlight lit up the outside of the studio building.

The Tilling was a popular attraction at events like the 40s weekend in Sandwich and Sellinge and Quex Park vintage rallies.

Bill had three daughters with his wife of 64 years, Rita, also 86, and was a proud grandad and great grandad. He also leaves his two other daughters, Anne and Carol.

Bill and Rita were young sweethearts who took the bus from Sandwich to Canterbury for their wedding at the register office.

“They were both brought up in the country and had very little in the early years,” says Jane.

“Mum was a packer at Sandwich and District Growers at Preston and dad worked on the farms around Preston and Hoaden.

“He then drove lorries to Covent Garden before going to work at Trices Scrapyard at Richborough.

“It was there that he helped to restore a full-size steam engine, called Pioneer, behind the family home with his stepfather.

“He also restored a Model A truck which has since been bought back by his grandson Nicholas and used at his wedding.

“Dad was talked about as the "Fred Dibnah of Kent" and was well known for his searchlight displays at local rallies and country shows.

“He was invited to take the searchlight to Jersey for the memorial celebrations, it appeared at the War and Peace shows, Sandwich 40s celebrations and the great Dorset fair.

“Its beam could be seen for miles around the local villages and every now and then he would cause an upset with the passing aircraft, although this was never intentional.”

Jane says her dad was a great teacher of practical skills and had a few apprentices who remember their time with him fondly.

He taught welding, basic ‘get out of trouble skills’ for mainly heavy goods vehicles but also showman trucks and machinery and his no-nonsense approach was legendary.

Jane says he was renowned in his circle of family and friends for his colourful language and speaking his mind, but was also “a sensitive soul”.

In his later years, he would enjoy reminiscing over his national service years, working at the scrapyard in Sandwich, riding motorbike and sidecar competitively.

He also renovated his vintage Pioneer, Scammel, Atkinson and the Tillings, alongside his many other creations.

He passed on his love of all things mechanical to his grandson Nicholas who proudly drove the Tillings with his grandfather’s coffin to Barham Crematorium on April 4 where more than 100 people gathered for the celebration of his life.