Tributes have been paid to a Warminster town councillor and wild swimming expert who twice served as mayor of the town.

Cllr Rob Fryer, of Portway, Warminster, died on Tuesday, September 26, aged 84. He leaves a partner, Sue Burrow, five children and nine grandchildren.

He was first elected to Warminster Town Council in 2007 and was twice elected the town’s mayor in 2012-2013 and again between 2017-2018.

Cllr Fryer was also a director of the Warminster Preservation Trust from August 2018 to August 2019.

Wiltshire Times: Cllr Rob Fryer, twice mayor of WarminsterCllr Rob Fryer, twice mayor of Warminster (Image: Warminster Town Council)

In a tribute to Cllr Fryer, the council said: “It is with much sadness that Warminster Town Council announces the passing of Cllr Rob Fryer. Councillors and staff pass on their sincere condolences to his partner Sue, family, and friends.

“He was proud to live and serve the town. In 2018, he collected over £2,000 for charity during his year as Mayor.

“His chosen charities were the Wessex Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre and the Warminster Food Bank.”

Warminster's current mayor, Cllr Philip Keeble said: “Rob will be deeply missed. He had such enthusiasm and passion for Warminster and for getting things done. He was instrumental in securing the return of boat hire on the Lake.

“He was mayor at the time of the first Spring in the Park and would make a special effort to attend any event in the Park.

“He loved the return of Bands to the Bandstand and innovations like the splashpad.

“Rob had a mischievous sense of humour and would sometimes lob a comment in at meetings just to stir things up. Although a Conservative, he always viewed himself as a bit of a rebel. RIP Rob Fryer.”

Wiltshire Times: Cllr Rob Fryer takes a turn at rowing at the Spring in the Park at Warminster in 2018. Photo: Trevor PorterCllr Rob Fryer takes a turn at rowing at the Spring in the Park at Warminster in 2018. Photo: Trevor Porter (Image: Trevor Porter)

Cllr Fryer was also an expert on wild swimming and wrote one of the definitive guides to the increasingly popular past-time.

A keen river swimmer and writer, Cllr Fryer learned to swim in the River Cherwell while at school in Oxford.

He moved to Warminster in 1965 and soon started swimming at the Farleigh & District Swimming Club in the River Frome near Trowbridge.

He was the club’s chairman and welcomed TV presenter, Professor Alice Roberts, a wild swimming enthusiast, to open the club's new stone steps down to the river in June last year.

Wiltshire Times: Rob Fryer, chair of Farleigh and District Swimming Club, with Professor Alice Roberts, a wild swimming enthusiast, at the opening of the club's new steps down to the River Frome in June 2022. Photo: Trevor Porter 68112-11Rob Fryer, chair of Farleigh and District Swimming Club, with Professor Alice Roberts, a wild swimming enthusiast, at the opening of the club's new steps down to the River Frome in June 2022. Photo: Trevor Porter 68112-11 (Image: Trevor Porter)

He wrote Rob Fryer's Wild Swimming Europe, which he described as the most comprehensive wild swimming guidebook ever, with 1,250 sites spread over the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Portugal and elsewhere.

At 284 pages with 42 maps, he provided ratings, locations, and disabled access to swimming locations across Europe. 

Rob was also writing "Tragic Tales from Warminster", a local history of all the local tragedies, together with maps, to help people explore the countryside around Warminster. 

Cllr Fryer ran a printing business, the Warminster Press Print shop in Warminster for 44 years before selling the business in 2008 to focus on other interests.