[1] Cheetham was born in 1928 and educated at King Edward VII School[2] in Sheffield before taking a degree in Spanish at Sheffield University after the war.
Three years later he returned to the East Midlands to be a deputy art director and curator at Nottingham Castle Museum.
His personal study interest was in medieval English alabasters, based on his early work with the Nottingham collection.
After retirement he published in 2003 what is now the standard work on the alabasters in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
[4] On retirement he lectured extensively for ACE Cultural Tours.