Steve Haywood wrote: > On 24/11/06, Brian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: >> >> We passed >> through Bourton Lock but of course there was no face at the window. I >> heard that the lady who use to live there use to write to Finch >> while he was inside. > > > > Yes, Irene passed away earlier this year, a sad loss to anyone who > values women of strong character, or eccentric nature. She was a > testimony to plain speaking, an antithesis of the mealy-mouthed > carefulness that characterizes our politically correct age. If Irene > felt something, she said it; if she wanted to do something, she did > it. Writing to Finch is just the sort of irksome confrontational > thing she would do. She would probably feel some bizarre affinity > with his anarchic lifestyle, and though she wouldn't have sympathised > with his criminality she wasn't against confronting the law herself > on a point of principal. Many will remember her long running battle > with BW about the correct nomenclature of what they persisted in > calling 'Little' Bourton lock, and what she - by consistent defacing > the lock sign - insisted was just Bourton Lock. > > She moved into the cottage, what? - 20 years ago. It was without > electricity or running water, friends helping her to create a 12v > system for her house, and a plumbing system that collected and stored > from the roof. Irene was an evangelical environmentalist, a woman of > considerable knowledge and learning who loved the waterways deeply > and resented the intrusions of contemporary life. Many will remember > her 'runabout' boat moored below the lock which for many years she > used to take her to Banbury for shopping. Sadly, the waterways has > lost one of its great characters. > > The cottage will probably be sold as some London holiday home in > order to allow BW to buy another foot or two which they can rent out > for office space in Docklands > > Steve
She was indeed a grand old lady. Glad to say we never had any run-ins with her, though she often came out to check up! :-) -- Neil Arlidge - NB Earnest Follow the travelled TNC at : http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk Visit this site and help save our waterways from the DEFRA cuts http://www.saveourwaterways.org.uk/
