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Hundreds of mourners packed into St Martin's Church yesterday for the funeral of the man known to almost everyone as "Honest Nev".
The service was evidence of the popularity of Neville Ahier, the farmer's son and renowned bookie who was an ever-present face at Jersey Race Club meetings and one of the Island's great characters.
Mr Ahier, who died aged 88 on 3 January, made his last journey from his home parish of Trinity on the back of the green Morris truck that he had owned for decades.
The service, led by the Rector of St Martin, the Rev Pete Stone, referenced Mr Ahier’s passions, with family members reading poems about football and ploughing from A E Houseman’s Shropshire Lad collection, and hymns including The Old Rugged Cross and We Plough the Fields and Scatter.
A great pride in his home Island was a consistent theme throughout the funeral, with mention made of Mr Ahier driving a coach-and-horses down King Street on the occasion of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, as well as his prowess in Jèrriais.
As well as horse racing, with Mr Ahier having been a jockey, owner and bookie, in addition to running the popular Crown and Anchor stall at Les Landes, the service heard about Mr Ahier's other main sporting love, football. This included playing for St Martin's FC for many years, before becoming a referee and club official, as well as watching matches over a half of shandy at the Trinity Arms.
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