TRIBUTE TO ANNE IZZARD READ BY HER GRANDCHILDREN, MARTIN & RACHAEL BENNETT
AT HER FUNERAL AT ALL SAINTS’ KEMPSTON ON WEDNESDAY 8TH JANUARY 2014
Anne
was born in Chellington on 25th May 1932, the eldest daughter of
Frank and Nancy Smith. Her early playground was the fields around the
village and the farm where her Father worked and it was here that Anne
discovered her lasting love of nature. The tom-boy spirit of her childhood
always remained with her even when she had grown into an elegant young lady
and later a loving Mother and Gran.
Anne
received her more formal education at the village school in Carlton and
later at the Dame Alice Harpur School in Bedford, where she developed her
skills in music, art and sport that remained interests throughout her life.
In the early 1940s the family, now four following the arrival of a sister
Elizabeth in 1935 moved to Wilstead where Anne helped at the Sunday School
and towards the end of the decade, shortly after the birth of Janet they
moved again, this time to West End, Kempston.
Anne
involved herself with the church here too, first joining the choir and later
becoming the assistant organist. In those days the organ was played from
the loft accessed through the ringing room, where the local band, largely
male and including a group of young friends from the parish, assembled each
Sunday. You can imagine the effect that the appearance of an attractive
young lady in their midst had upon the ringers and what pranks they may have
used to catch her eye and to persuade her to linger a little longer in the
ringing room. It will never be known for certain whether it was a
fascination with bell ringing or with a certain young ringer that led to
Anne learning to ring but a romance between Anne and Cliff soon developed
into an enduring love.
Ringing featured strongly in their courtship as they, with the Bedfordshire
Young Ringers, covered many miles by bicycle visiting towers across the
country from Gloucestershire to Essex, staying in Youth Hostels, which in
those days were pretty basic. Close friendships were formed on these trips
and in more recent years Anne and the rest of the old ‘young ringers’ were
reunited - only this time choosing a more sedate form of transport and much
more comfortable accommodation as suited their advancing years. Ringing
was to remain an important part of Anne’s life. A member of the band here
for 63 years Anne was very proud to have rung her 100th peal at
Kempston in 2000 to celebrate the Queen Mothers centenary.
Anne
left school in 1950. Janet and Elizabeth remember being taken to Bedford
Railway Station to see Anne set off on the first stage of her journey to the
police training college at Stafford, going by Steam Train!. Anne, WPC8 was
one of the first women police constables in Bedfordshire and the first
policewoman in Kempston, and she walked the beat alone armed only with her
whistle. Janet recalls the school bus stopping at the house in West End Road
to pick her up for school, during the winter months the driver would kindly
open the rear emergency door to load up Anne, wearing her uniform and cape
to give her and her bicycle a lift to the Horseshoe garage at the corner of
St. Johns street, from where she then cycled to Horne Lane Police Station.
The school bus was always very quiet with a police lady aboard! Anne
learnt to drive in the police force. She was later to teach Cliff, a fact
he was to be reminded of should he ever be critical of her driving!
Anne
and Cliff were married here on 2nd June 1956 and moved into their
brand new house, Green Acre, Box End. Anne, never afraid of hard work set
about turning the empty, dusty and echoing building into a warm and
comfortable home, cleaning away the builders dust, sewing furnishings and
filling the house with love. In the next ten years three daughters arrived
and with Cliff frequently away on business Anne focussed on looking after
the house and raising the children. Many here will know of Anne’s skill as
a cook but one need only glance at her well-nourished children and husband
for further evidence of this. Anne was green-fingered too and turned part
of the orchard which surrounded the house into a beautiful garden leaving an
area of wilderness for the chickens to forage and the children to play
-although neither group could be totally relied upon to observe the boundary
– the plants suffering frequent damage from beaks, balls, go-carts and
bicycles!
As has
been mentioned Anne was brought up on or near farms and was therefore
familiar and relaxed with animals. Cliff remembers the time when he came
home from work to find that some cattle had broken through the fence at the
end of the garden and had come down to near the house. Anne and the
policeman who lived next door were attempting to herd them back until she
casually remarked "that one is a bull" at which the policeman rapidly
retreated leaving Anne to deal with the situation, which she did, getting
all the animals out including the big Hereford bull and then patched up the
fence.
For
many years Anne was a member of the Women’s Institute. She also maintained
her childhood love of horse riding and tennis, activities which she was able
to share with her children. Throughout the late 1960s and 70s she was
Secretary of the Bedfordshire District of the Bedfordshire Association of
Church Bell Ringers, organising meetings and the all-important ringers’
teas. She also played a key part in the rehanging and augmentation of the
bells here at Kempston, fund-raising and keeping the volunteer labour
well-fed and motivated.
As the
children grew up Anne took a job at Biddenham Hospital and also found time
to take-up new interests, learning and later teaching yoga and tune-ringing
on hand bells. For a number of years she taught the children here at
Church End School to play Christmas carols on the bells, this she really
enjoyed. Anne was on the brass and flower rota here for many years - her
most memorable arrangements were the colourful and imaginative floral
carpets which filled the central aisle during the flower and arts and crafts
festivals. She also found more time for the garden at Box End, planting
some of her favourite plants and recovering the vegetable patch –now
vulnerable only to her grandchildren, the chickens being long gone.
It was
her family which remained the most important thing for Anne, putting them
before everything else she did. Anne was particularly proud of her four
grandchildren and their achievements in sport and music, skills which they
had inherited directly from her. She loved to bring all the family
together throughout the year and Christmas was always a very special time
for Anne. She always worked so hard to prepare for these gatherings,
decorating the house with greenery from the garden and preparing the most
wonderful food. It was a tradition on Christmas morning for Anne to wake
the house with a carol on the harmonium – Christians Awake, Salute this
Happy Morn! This is how she would wish to be remembered, strong, capable,
fun, forgiving but above all a loving wife, Mother and Gran.
Footnotes:
Anne’s funeral was held at Kempston on 8th January 2014
and as she left the church and was laid to rest in the nearby cemetery, a
well-struck touch of Grandsire Caters was rung by friends on the unmuffled
bells.
A
shortened version of the above tribute was published in The Ringing World
of
31st January 2014 (Page 124).
Kempston, Beds Saturday, 10 May 2014 in
3hours 9minutes
A Peal of 5003 Grandsire Caters (Composed by
John S Warboys)
1 Melvyn Potts
2 David A Potts
3 Anthony H Smith
4 Charlotte M Smith
5 David I Stanford
6 Timothy M D Stanford
7 Richard A Horne
8 Jonathan R Pawley
9 Andrew M Keech (C)
10 Stephen H Stanford
First on 10: 6
Dedicated to the memory of Anne Izzard and
Robert Wood, ringers at this tower.
Also in memory of Canon Kenneth Habermehl,
Vicar here 1965-1987.
Peals in memory of Anne Izzard were also rung at
Southill, Beds on 30th December 2013 and at Clifton, Beds on 11th January
2014.
Quarter Peals in memory of Anne Izzard were rung at
Stotfold, Beds on 27th December 2013 and at Perth, Western Australia on 2nd
January 2014.
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