I met with Betty when I worked at Weston Hospice Care. She was getting her affairs in order five years ago and was putting on a print making exhibition and sale in Blagdon Church to raise money for the hospice.
She was such an interesting and interested person, wanting to know about me and my history and sharing some great stories with me about her varied life.
The exhibition in the church was a great success with Betty giving demonstrations on how she made the prints. It was lovely to meet her son Kim at the event, and for my wife to meet Betty. We still have her artwork in our house and think of her fondly, a life well lived and an inspiration and reminder to keep interested and engaged with living.
I wish all her extended family the very best,
Blair Chadwick
Blair
18th August 2020
Fond memories of a truly remarkable and lovely lady. What fun we had whether it was helping her, or perhaps more accurately working for Betty , in organising her last charity race night raising funds for the church reordering project or nearly tipping her out of the wheelchair she was using to tour the Holt Farm gardens. Good memories too of those great conversations over coffee, when we sometimes strayed into discussions of politics, faith , and less serious matters of perhaps why I had chosen a particular tie to wear or of shoe polishing techniques! We love you Betty and will miss you greatly. Colin & Hazel
Colin
17th August 2020
My first memories of Betty are very clear - I was very young, at our house in Guilsborough, and Betty was making a state visit to see my grandmother Pauline. Part of the festivities were a visit to our house, where she would inspect our garden with my mother, who is as keen a gardener as she was. I remember my brother and I nervously watching from inside as our stern great-aunt with a severe, jet-black hair cut would endlessly discuss flowers with my mother as she slowly made her way around the garden.
As I got older, I revelled in her ability to speak her mind at family gatherings, which reached a pinnacle at my brother's wedding when she said to me (in my thirties at this point) that she hoped I would one day be able to have a wedding like this, but that it must be hard for me, because 'you can't fool me, Dear, I've been on the scene for fifty years!'
After that I got to know Betty better and better, and have very fond memories of her coming to our house for a Sunday lunch with my friends, regaling us all with her impossible collection of astonishing stories.
I will miss Betty a great deal - she was, as we all know, a force to be reckoned with, but at the same time taking a genuine and caring interest in the lives of her family and friends.
Sam
Sam
17th August 2020