Isobel Bryant
FOR THE LAST 45 YEARS my mother, Isobel, has been a more or less familiar figure in Swaffham Prior. She walked her black and tan miniature dachshund "Chippy" round the village almost daily from 1984 until he died in 1998, despite the fact that she covered many miles a week doing walking tours of the Cambridge colleges. She opened her garden to the public during at least one 'open village' event and did a guided tour of the village. She served several main courses at Moveable Feasts.
Unfortunately her memory began to give her trouble in 2000 and she had to give up her tours soon after. In late 2003 it was clear that she needed help in the house and after a few months with mealtime help we advertised in the Crier and 2 girls took it in turns to stay the night. One of these, Joanna from Poland , was later able to work longer and when she went back to university to get her second master's degree she found another Polish girl
(Magda) who stayed until Mid 2006. Ivana was then recruited from Slovakia via the internet but by the end of April she was finding it difficult and I realised that it would be difficult to find a replacement as I was having trouble myself doing one 24 hour spell per week. As Isobel now doesn't know where she is at any time I thought I would try her in a nursing home. Oddly She used to complain daily that "This is not my house" when in her own home, she has only said this once to me since she has been in the nursing home.
She is now in The Churchill Suite at The Cambridge Nursing Centre, 5 High Street Chesterton Cambridge.
It is tragic that she is now so unable to know where she is yet until she was compelled to retire at the age of 72 in 1994, Isobel was able to find her way around the whole of the UK including the far North of Scotland. Much of this was on her own with no mobile phone, covering 25000 miles a year working for "Wolsey Lodges", the business she co-founded which is still going today.
May I take this opportunity to thank all of those residents of Swaffham Prior who have helped mother over the years especially those who have looked after her or taken her home when she got lost.