Funeral for Black Country steam fanatic Len Crane

So it seemed appropriate a celebration of Len Crane's life, attended by around hundreds of people, was held at his spiritual home, The Black Country Living Museum in Dudley.

Around 500 well-wishers attended the event, which followed his funeral at Gornal Crematorium last Friday.

There were also a dozen traction engines on show.

Len, who spent most of his life in Wolverhampton and West Bromwich, passed away in hospital after a long illness on January 5.

His wife, Jane, aged 74, said: "It (the celebration of Len's life) was absolutely fantastic. Len would have enjoyed every minute of it. Everything fell into place and it was exactly as we had planned it.

"You have those people who say you should feel guilty for enjoying it but you absolutely shouldn't. It was a wonderful day and a fantastic way of celebrating Len's life."

Len was born in Goole, Yorkshire, to Henry and Alice Crane.

The family moved to West Bromwich when he was young, his father taking a job at the town's Delta Metals.

Len went to George Salter School, West Bromwich, before earning a scholarship to Ryland Memorial School of Art.

After school he worked in the Jewellery Quarter as a silversmith before doing his National Service in Egypt for two years.

When he returned he had a successful 12-year career in motorbike racing which saw him crowned British Motocross Scramble Champion in 1966 and 1967.

Len restored seven steam engines and was the main driver behind several popular events, including the Black Country Living Museum's steam gathering.

His work spanned more than six decades after he first took an interest in model engines at the age of 11.

A friend of Len's, 45-year-old Martin Eaton, a paramedic from Cotwall End, Sedgley, said: "I first got involved with Len after he restored the Bratch Pumping Station in Wombourne. After that I took to helping him restore the steam engines.

"He was a perfectionist, you had to do the job right, but he was always happy to share what he knew.

"The send-off was perfect. There were lots of people there who knew him from all his different lives to say goodbye. I think he would have really enjoyed it."

Despite taking a job as a tool maker at Great Bridge Foundry, it was steam engines which captured Len's imagination.

He built a three-inch scale traction engine which won him the Duke of Edinburgh Trophy in the London Model Engineering Exhibition.

Then, when building a model of a giant crane at John Thompson's boiler works in Wolverhampton, he was offered the real thing.

He restored the crane, before taking on six more over his life.