Funeral for legendary cricket umpire Dickie Bird

'Dickie Bird planned his own funeral'

Reverend Phil Maries, who is leading the service, says that much of the planning for his funeral was already done by Dickie Bird himself.

"The points that he wanted to bring was that he was very proud that he was the son of a coal miner from Barnsley and that he's been able to take Barnsley out across the world," Mr Maries tells the BBC.

"I think there'll be a feeling of loss, because of his presence in the town centre," he adds.

"He used to come into St Mary's in an afternoon and say 'now, lad, I've just come in for some peace and quiet. I've been stopped four or five times for selfies, but what can you say?'

"I think that's how people will remember him - always there [with] a smile to speak to them, no matter what."

Cricket fans arrive to mourn Dickie Bird

One of the first to arrive to mourn Dickie Bird's death is Russ, from Goole, who says he has come to pay his respects to "the great man".

"We just loved him." Russ says.

"I'm not from Barnsley, but I'm a big Yorkshire cricket fan and had seen him at Scarborough and Test matches at Headingley.

"He would talk to anybody would Dickie, wouldn't he?

"What a gem he was and a lovely, lovely man."

Service to celebrate long life

The former international cricket umpire Dicke Bird died on 22 September at the age of 92.

His long life, passion for his home town of Barnsley and his love of sport are all likely to feature during today's funeral service at St Mary's Church.

The service will begin at 14:00 and will be followed by a private family cremation at Barnsley Crematorium.

The are a couple of road closures during the service, including a temporary road closure on St Mary’s Gate throughout the day.

There will also be a short closure on Church Lane at around 13:45 as the funeral procession pauses for a brief moment of reflection by Bird’s statue before proceeding to the church.

Lifelong friendships

Bird grew up playing club cricket with legendary England batsman Sir Geoffrey Boycott and journalist and TV host Sir Michael Parkinson.

They were friendships which would last a lifetime.

Speaking when Bird's death was announced, Sir Geoffrey said he had known him for "nearly 70 years as a friend".

"Players all over the world respected and admired him for his firmness, fairness and he did it with a sense of humour.

"He was loved by so many and became a legend," he said.

Parkinson's son, Mike, also paid tribute and said they were "very similar people" in that they "couldn't quite believe where they had come from".

"If you think about those two young men sitting together at the end of play, there's no way they could've imagined where they would end up," Mr Parkinson added.

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