Tony Greenbank was an exhilarating colleague on the Guardian in the north, a writer whose wit, curiosity and exuberance made him a fine successor when Harry Griffin, the doyen of the Country Diary, died in harness in 2004 after 53 years of contributing from the English Lakes.
Tony, who has died aged 86, felt awed at first but was soon producing exceptional columns. A fearless rock climber like Griffin, he reached places others could not. His personal warmth gave extra space for people, whose role in the diary had often been secondary, among them refugees learning shepherding skills and the surgeon who refettled his hip. He also drew on the nous of the Yorkshire Dales farmers who had been in his family for generations.