A FORMER headteacher with a passion for travel and rugby has died at the age of 69.

Alf Scrimgour died of heart failure at his home in Durrington, Worthing, surrounded by his family after a short period of illness.

Alf, who was born to Eddie and Ivy Scrimgour, was educated at Middlesbrough Grammar School for Boys after passing his 11 plus exams.

From a very young age, he was allowed to travel or go and explore the area he lived in with his brother or a friend, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

The keen Middlesbrough fan moved to Worthing in 1967 and started to train as a teacher.

As a big fan of rugby and a former player himself, Alf was heavily involved with Worthing RFC, going back to the days when the team played in Castle Road.

He joined the club in 1973 after finishing his studies at the University of Brighton, where he earned a degree in education and linguistics.

He also played as fly half for the club’s first team when they played at The Rugby Park.

When the club moved to their new Roundstone Lane ground in 1978,

Alf stayed at fly half for the first team.

Towards the end of the 1980s, he also played for Sussex Martlets’ second team.

Once his days playing on the paddock were over, Alf maintained his ties with the club, going on to become Worthing’s club chairman and president.

He took on the role of organising the Sussex Sevens tournament and Worthing Mini Festival, where he was also a PA announcer.

During his time teaching in the area, he worked at Buckingham Middle School and later moved to East Preston Junior School, where he served as deputy headteacher and headteacher.

After years working in education, Alf turned his passion for travel into a career and went to work for holiday company Kuoni after organising several ski trips when he was a teacher.

He also stopped playing rugby in 1991, before going to work at Kuoni.

He was a keen skier himself and organised and went on a number of trips with girls from Our Lady of Sion School in Worthing.

Alf retired in 2016 after spending twenty years working in the travel and tourism industry.

His final job after a long and successful career in the industry was at the Confederation of Passenger Transport.

He is survived by his wife Sue and sons Sam and Jon.

Travelling far and near with his family over the years, Alf passed on his love of travel to his two boys.

Sam had already been on 27 flights abroad by the time he was just two-years-old.

Alf’s funeral was held earlier this month in the Kingswood Chapel at Worthing Crematorium, which seats around 170.

His family said there were still many people left standing at the back of the room.

To help Alf’s family raise money for others affected by heart disease, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/rememberingalfscrimgour.