Margaret Foss (13 May 1945 - 2 Jul 2024)

MARGARET FOSS

Margaret died last month from cancer of the oesophagus which had spread into her bones. It’s a cancer that is difficult to detect until too late. In Margaret’s case that was only 6 weeks. Margaret was well loved in the village because of her kindness and interest in people. She wrote the recipe page in the Village magazine and was an active member of the Womans Institute.

She gave thanks for having a wonderful life, saying that she wouldn’t have changed anything, although she would have liked to have achieved our Diamond Wedding Anniversary . She put her family above all else, and loved the village life here in East Bridgford. She was a remarkable, wonderful person, who will be greatly missed.

Early Years
Margaret was born in Kingston on Thames, Surrey. Her father was a career soldier stationed in Germany after the Second World War (older readers may remember BBC Two Way Family Favourites which kept families in touch). Margaret only saw her father when he came home on leave and lived in an all female household in Tolworth with her mother, grandmother and sister Ruth.

Eventually when he retired from the Army, he felt called to the Church. After training at Kings College London, he was posted to Camberwell , near Peckham in the East End of London. Margaret was starting Secondary School and had to drop her Surrey accent and learn the local dialect to survive. The East End was still full of bomb sites and populated with Teddy Boys.

Her father’s next posting was as Parson to the church which had been used by the Army as its Garrison Church in Freshwater Isle of Wight. There were a number of forts in the West Wight originally built in Victorian times.

Bell ringing and a motor bike
Freshwater was a large Parish with three churches. I rang the bells at the Parish Church. Margaret came to practice night there. So I knew of Margaret, but didn’t know her. Then one October Saturday afternoon there was a bellringers meeting for all the Island Churches at Brading on the other side of the Island. Margaret went with her parents; I took my motorbike, an AJS 350.

At teatime, Margaret’s mother invited me to sit on their table, and I found myself sitting next to the most wonderful person, beautiful and intelligent. I decided that I must get to know her. After the meeting I plucked up courage and asked if I could take her back home to Freshwater on my motorbike.

To my amazement and joy she said yes. We went back the long way, stopping halfway to get to know each other, and fell totally in love. We were back at the Parsonage very late and received by a rather cross father. At our wedding we prayed for undying love, and that has certainly been granted to us. We were happily married for 57 years at Seaview IW where her father was now the Vicar, and I love her more than ever.

Margaret went to the Secondary Modern School in Freshwater. Her father wanted her to be an army cook but Margaret knew she wanted to become a teacher. She had to transfer to the Grammar school to get A levels for entry to Teacher Training College. The rather snobby teachers laughed and said that there was no way she would be accepted. She went for an interview at Clacton and so impressed the Principal that she was given a place without needing A levels. Margaret was a born teacher, she could teach anything and anyone. Her chosen subject was Domestic Science and Needlework.

Her food interests were low sugar, low salt healthy eating using seasonal produce. She wrote 3 books which were published by the Women’s Institute (WI). We were at our favourite bookshop once in Reykjavik, Iceland and they happened to have all of them on display, but she refused to have a signing session!
She appeared on BBC Daytime Live winning the title Britain’s Best Bread Maker, and also represented the WI on the government committee which introduced the food traffic light labelling system.

She was President of East Bridgford WI when the new hut was built, on the Home Economics Committee at Nottinghamshire County level and tutor and demonstrator at the WI’s Residential College in Denman, Oxfordshire, teaching courses in cooking, walking, relaxation and home maintenance! She was moderator for the WI City and Guilds Teaching and Assessing qualification run by Nottingham Trent University. She taught cookery courses at Brackenhurst where one of her students developed Stilton Cheese with apricots as a project which you can still find in the shops.

She was involved with the Bramley Apple committee and Festival in Southwell. She was very talented, but modest about her achievements.
Her other interests apart from her family were walking, aromatherapy, photography, boating, and Reiki of which she was a Grand Master.

Some thoughts
She was extremely worried about her television appearance and needed much assurance that she could do it. She appeared as supremely confident . From then on ,whatever she tackled turned out well. She demanded near perfection. We gave talks to various ladies groups to raise money for charity, and if we gave a bad show, she would not take the money.
Margaret loved travelling in Scandinavia and particularly Iceland. In Scandinavia our surname ensured that we were treated as locals and not tourists. Margaret loved Iceland because she could tune in to the feeling of raw power that is present everywhere.
Our grandchildren call her Nana, who coincidentally also happens to be the Norse Goddess of eternal love, which I think sums up Margaret perfectly.
Peter Foss