My son, Jon Mycroft, who has died unexpectedly aged 44, lived very individualistically, leaving home in 1998, aged 20, to join a protest against the Birmingham Northern Relief Road, which became the toll motorway linking with the M6. Later, he was a peaceful protester at G8 summits, such as in Genoa, Italy, in 2001. The Guardian reported how demonstrators there were attacked indiscriminately by riot police. Like others, Jon fled the city grateful to be unharmed, and turned back to his eco-friendly lifestyle of self-sufficiency and woodworking.
Sailing was one of his loves. With friends, he renovated a small sea-going catamaran but also crewed for others in two transatlantic journeys, gaining experience for his RYA yachtmaster’s certificate. He lived in various spots in northern Spain, where his key aim was to avoid overusing the Earth’s resources in any consumerist existence, and earned what little money he needed by busking or giving English lessons. Jon would have set off across the Atlantic again, but the birth of his daughter in 2011 meant he chose to stay in the province of Asturias to share her upbringing.
