IT is difficult for anyone who has not been in that sad position to know the pain that must accompany laying to rest a young child.That is the sad prospect today facing the family of Sarah Gaecke who was killed in a road accident on the A14 a few days before Christmas.

IT is difficult for anyone who has not been in that sad position to know the pain that must accompany laying to rest a young child.

That is the sad prospect today facing the family of Sarah Gaecke who was killed in a road accident on the A14 a few days before Christmas.

The 15-year-old's mother Vici today talks emotionally about the pain she and the rest of her family are suffering as they prepare for the final farewells to her much-loved daughter.

There is a physical pain which accompanies their deep emotional hurt - and it is a pain which the family is today sharing with many others.

Sarah was clearly a wonderful daughter with a sparkling future ahead of her.

There is some consolation from the fact that she lived a happy life - but that does not compensate for the sad fact that this life was snuffed out before she really had a chance to live.

Vici Gaecke has asked those going to Sarah's funeral later this month to wear pink to remember her.

It is clear that Sarah is someone who will never be forgotten.

SIR John Harvey-Jones was a larger-than-life character who showed that you don't have to be boring to make it to the top in business.

He rose to the top of one of Britain's largest companies, ICI, in the 1980s, and when he retired from the leadership of that company, he took on an important role as BBC's “Troubleshooter” advising other businesses.

In that roll he played many visits to Suffolk, especially to the Tolly Cobbold brewery and the Copella fruit farm at Stoke By Nayland.

His trips to Tolly were a real labour of love, and he is fondly remembered by all those he met there.

His expression when he saw a beer had been named “Tollyshooter” was a picture - the hard-nosed businessman really showed his softer side.

Sir John's advice helped brewery managers to weather storm times during the 1990s and although Tolly no longer brews in the town, his advice helped ensure there was a business to be merged with Ridleys and ultimately taken over by Greene King.

His death will mourned by many in and around Ipswich.

CORONATION day in 1953 was momentous for Britain, its empire and commonwealth.

Not only was the Queen crowned, but news came through of a great triumph as it emerged that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay had become the first people to stand on the top of Mount Everest.

Sir Edmund - as he soon became - was a genuine Boy's Own hero, not only conquering the highest mountain the world but also leading a successful expedition to the South Pole a few years later.

He may have been a Kiwi through and through, but he was adopted by the whole Commonwealth as a symbol of the new Elizabethan Age.

His death has robbed the world of a 20th century icon.