Tributes have been paid to a "gentleman farmer" from Brookeborough who lived for his work.

Thomas Leonard Percival (known as Leonard) died peacefully at South West Acute Hospital on July 29 having lived his 81 years to the full outdoors.

He was a traditional farmer at Teigues Hill Road, Ardmoney, relying heavily on horses and dogs to conduct his day-to-day work.

"It wasn't an easy life but it was the life he enjoyed," says his sister-in-law Audrey.

"He was brought up on a farm, one of four boys, and he and my late husband, his brother, Fred worked hard together on the farm.

"I would have known him for 50 years."

Leonard and Fred enjoyed working as a team until Fred tragically died on the farm.

After that, Audrey stepped in, and together she and Leonard kept the farm going.

"His big interest was pigs," she says, "Pigs and horses and dogs.

"He trained his dogs for working. In the later years he would have relied on them a lot more. He and the dogs did wonderful things.

"And we were happy, we just carried on," she adds, "We didn't get outlandish, we kept our head and kept what we could control."

Audrey says Leonard was never tempted to give up traditional farming in favour of heavy machinery.

"He was happy at home with the horses," she says.

"I have seen him cutting all the hay with the horses. That depended on the weather of course, but if we had a week of good weather, he would be up early morning mowing and working at it during the sunshine."

In the last few years Leonard gave up milking, but was still out faithfully every day to conduct the rest of his farming duties.

"He never really stopped," said Audrey, "It was really only this Spring that he slowed down. He had heart troubles. But even this year he managed to bring in the potatoes."

Leonard had a very strong faith, but according to a family friend, he never "preached about it".

"He read his Bible every day and tried to live by it. But never talked about it - not a single word about it, he just did it," they said.

"He lived a simple life and looked after his cattle and animals well.

"I never heard him say anything bad about anyone - ever. At the funeral someone said to me: 'That man definitely had no enemies'.

"And it's true. If someone rang him for help he would down tools and he would go. Local local people used to go to him for advice on their animals. There were times he would have been called before the vet. He was just a gentleman farmer."

Leonard's funeral took place on July 31 in Aghavea Parish Church, followed by burial in St Ronan’s Parish Churchyard, Colebrooke.