Mourners bid farewell to Keith Floyd

Published on Wednesday 30 September 2009 22:35

FAMILY and friends celebrated the eventful life of TV chef Keith Floyd yesterday as they took part in his humanist funeral.

The 65-year-old, who had bowel cancer, died in Dorset on 14 September after suffering a heart attack.

Guests gathered for a humanist ceremony at Ashton Court Mansion, in Bristol – the city where he started his career in the restaurant business and was discovered by the BBC.

Mourners, including his partner, Celia Martin, and biographer James Steen, filled the 15th-century mansion.

Born to a working-class family in 1943, Floyd was educated at Wellington School before working as a journalist for the Bristol Evening Post.

He joined the army, where he worked in the kitchen, and at the age of 22 he opened Floyd's Bistro.

He made several cookery series for the BBC and wrote more than 20 books, the latest of which will be published next month.