Margaret (Madge) Fairey was a stalwart of Winster’s village life, especially in the 1950s during my childhood. She was at various times President of the Women’s Institute, an actress/producer for the Drama Group, a member of the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service – she may also have been a member of the Parish Council. No doubt she was probably a member of other local organisations of which I am ignorant. .
I recall her memory with considerable affection. She was a friend of my Mother’s and often visited our house in Leacroft Road during my childhood in the 1950s. Madge impressed me as a raconteur long before I knew what a raconteur was or even how to spell it! She was a great “organiser,” a woman of charisma and physical presence and it was a joy for me to be in her company both as a child and as a young adult.
At one time she ran a bed and breakfast establishment in Twekesbury, Gloucestershire. I called on her there unannounced once in the 1960s. She welcomed me with the enthusiasm I have sometimes been fortunate to experience from loving aunts. She insisted that I stay overnight at her expense. Towards the end of her life (she died in 1992) I visited her again when she was living at Chesterfield. She welcomed me with warmth and affection and recognised me the instant she opened her door with a classic greeting: “E bloody ‘ell – what are you doing ‘ere?” We “re-lived” for some brief moments some of our happy days together in Winster.
Madge had two sons and two daughters. All of Madge’s children were older than me.
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