The actor, born in Oldham in 1928, was best known for narrating the Seventies children’s programme The Wombles and starring in the 1970 film The Railway Children as kind-but-firm station porter ...

The Wombles is a second animated series for children based on the characters created by Elisabeth Beresford transmitted in 1997 and 1998. The Wombles had remained popular with children into the 1980s.