RIP Farmer Barry
Francis Sedgemore, Sunday 5 June 2011 at 21:27 UTC
Barry Mason, manager of Surrey Docks City Farm in London, workaholic public servant, and tireless cycling and environmental campaigner, is no more. Barry died while swimming in the sea off the coast of Asturias, and the London cycling community will miss him dearly.
Our Barry was an extrovert and prickly character, with a reputation for getting up the noses of obstructive local politicians and officious jobsworths. And he was loved by pretty much everyone else who knew him. Barry Mason – graduate of the London School of Economics, coordinator of Southwark Cyclists, and a natural leader – was a man of achievement, with an eclectic career that apart from cycling advocacy included senior management positions in Salisbury Cathedral and local authorities in Greenwich and Southwark.
Barry Mason got stuff done, and woe betide anyone who got in his way.
Feed the writer! 
Monday 6 June 2011 at 11:29 UTC
I am glad he died swimming in the sea.. I have a lovely picture of him emerging from the sea at Dungeness.
Monday 6 June 2011 at 11:42 UTC
Better that Barry had died not at all. I didn’t know Barry well enough to call the man a friend, but from what I understand he lived his life to the full as a fish in water. So I take your point, Teri.
Wednesday 8 June 2011 at 05:26 UTC
Nice obit. Wouldn’t mind having one like that myself.
Wednesday 8 June 2011 at 12:27 UTC
Barry certainly left his mark on the world. There will be some who do not mourn his passing, and, to them, the rest us in the London cycling community should cry as one: “We are all Barry Mason!
Tuesday 21 June 2011 at 15:18 UTC
[...] It’s mid afternoon, and I’ve only just risen from my pit, having led a cycling circuit of of London yesterday evening, as part of National Bike Week, and then taken part in the Midsummer Madness nighttime ride to greet the solstice dawn on Primrose Hill. Midsummer Madness is a ride created by the late Barry Mason. [...]