Janet Farr (8 May 1932 - 20 Mar 2016)

In loving memory of Janet Farr who sadly passed away on 20th March 2016
Janet Mary Farr
Janet was born in 1932 on the 8th of May to Stuart (farmer) and Ivy (dress maker) Bates at Yew Tree Farm, she was an only child but had a adopted sister Jean Walker (whose mother lived up Gladstone Street) and a evacuee from the war called Teresa, she had 2 cousins who lived in the village up at Chalfonts (now a home) up Denford Road they were Marilyn and Jane Warren, Stuart and Ivy had a dairy farm part of which they inherited from Ivy’s father and sold milk from churns around the village, Ivy made ice cream and her and Janet would sell it to the American airmen who would visit the village from Chelveston airbase . She attended Ringstead school till she was 11 before going onto Wellingborough County High Girls school where she excelled in home economics (cooking), she would catch the train from Ringstead station to Wellingborough every day. From there she went onto Moulton Agricultural Collage to further her education of farming before going on to London’s Good House Keeping Institute staying in London with her aunt Olive and uncle Billy at Golders green coming home at weekends to Ringstead. She meet her husband Cyril who was a cattle man on the family farm and love blossomed (much to the disapproval of her father) they wrote love letters to each other while she was staying in London 2 or 3 times a week. After she finished her education she worked as a Supervisor for school meals in Kettering.
She married Cyril on the 16th May 1953 at 21yrs of age and lived at the Nook up Denford Road (next to Chalfonts) and had their 1st son Patrick, she also had left the job in Kettering to help with the family milk business. She then moved back to the farm while a new bungalow was built along back lane no 2. While back at the farm she had her 2rd son Adrian, her and Cyril and 2 children moved into back lane soon after and had another son Kevin. They lived a happy family life there, Cyril worked on the land and then as a builders labourer, after most the farm and dairy herd had been sold off. Janet delivered the milk along with Stuart until he retired. She kept the milk round going for many years.
On 15th September 1971 she lost (due to a tragic accident) her eldest son Patrick, she never really got over this period of her live as in November 1971 Stuart died of a broken heart. Yew tree farm was sold except from the paddock behind it and Ivy moved into back lane and there she lived until 1988.
Janet lived a busy life trying different business ventures a transport business even a fruit and veg round she excelled at busy and also bringing up a family.
Her and Cyril moved over the road to 10 back lane, in her 50s she was diagnosed with bowl cancer and had to have major surgery which was hard for her and Cyril as he had to take over the family stuff cooking etc. She recovered from this and set about organising garden parties to raise money for Kettering Hospital and various cancer charities.
She watched her children grow and get married given her 7 grandchildren, Leon, Sammy-Joe, Portia, Leannder, Maria, Ross, Morgan. They in turn gave her 4 +Bump great grandchildren, Summer-Paige, Corey, Sophia, Lyla.
In 2004 she was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer’s which would be her biggest challenge and prove to be devastating for the whole family watching an active women go downhill so badly and to compound that in 2006 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to have a mastectomy.
In July 2010 she went into Five Gables Nursing home not expecting to live more than 6 months but with there good care and dedication she lived until March 2016.
She passed away peacefully in her sleep with her family around her. She was a lovely woman, mother, grandmother and she will be so missed for many reasons from her cooking to her banging heads together.
Memories of Nan Leon

Things that make me think of Nan are pink Grapefruit with sugar, Special K with Milk, Cream, bran and Glucose powder (ever though Ross thought it was icing sugar) eggy bread, Eccles cake. Steak on a Saturday night and a roast every Sunday with arguments about who would get the middle bit of the Yorkshire pudding. She loved her word searchers, cross words, jigsaw puzzles and reading a good book.
She spend time teaching me many things like how to play Chess, Checkers, bat gammon and scrabble (did not help with my spelling I must say). Counting the maths I still to this day put coins in piles when I am cashing up at work just the way Nan taught me. I think I have a good head when it comes to figures and logical thinking and that all comes from what she taught me.
These were not the only things that she taught me and all the other grandchildren. She taught us a 100 things are was a true inspiration to us all I think that I can see all of us have been brought up with a good hard working ethic and that comes from Nan. She worked her socks off from 4 in the morning loading the milk float for her round that morning 6 days a week up to retirement age lugging heavy milk crates on to the back of the milk float, then delivering it all around Ringsted and nearby villages the amount of early mornings all us would get up and help Nan on her rounds to earn our pocket money put us in good stead for when we all finally started our own careers. Getting up these days a 6am is a lot easier because of that. Once she finished that she would then be out on the fruit veg van delivering fresh food again to the surrounding areas before back in the evening collecting the milk money. There was always a plus side to nans business was all the freebies we were allowed to get away with having, must have been murder doing a stock take thinking of all the stuff we had.
As well as that she was heavily involved in the community like her famous Garden parties in the 80s were everyone was invited even the new residents that had moved to the village I remember speaking to Phil Parry when we worked at the Bridge together and he told me how warmly nan and welcomed into the village when he moved to Ringstead by inviting him to one of these garden parties that showed what a warm hearted women she was. To helping out with other event like the summer carnivals, and clubs like evergreen.
However even though she was that busy did not take her time away from her family she was always there for all of us and with Grandad one of the most constant things in all our lives growing up and I think she was at her happiest when she had her family around her. At the moment dad has started a private Facebook page for just the family to see and has been uploading all nan and grandads old pictures of when we were all kids growing up and the amount of fun we had a Nans house in every picture you can see nans face and how happy she was spending time with us it just lights the picture up. These pictures have brought back great memories as well as comfort this last week or so remembering the good times that we had, Just wish we could turn back time just for a day to relive some of them times again. She was always there supporting us and encouraging us to follow our dreams.
I could go on for hours with what she meant to me but I think I will just sum it all up by saying she was an incredible special women that has been a big influence on a lot of people especially me and has been hard the last number of years seeing her suffer with Alzheimer’s thinking on things she has missed out on, but again she helped make so many happy memories I am so proud, happy and thankful to have had her in my life and to be able to call her My Nan.
Ps Grandad hope you got your snoring under better control up there all Nan will clip your ear hole
Nan Speech… Maria
12pm on a Sunday was always the best time to ‘pop-in’ to see my Nan – Dinner Time! Somehow she always managed to cook enough to feed the whole village. Nan and Grandad were a team in the Kitchen, Grandad was the King of peeling, chopping, stirring and basically doing as he was told by the ‘Boss Lady’.
The Boss she most definitely was, the back-bone of our family. Hard working, strong, a hint of firm but always kind…
I can’t help but admire her not only because of the fact that she worked so hard and managed to achieve so much with her time but because of what she was able to provide…
Her home was always our home and bear in mind that when I say ‘our’ I mean the entire Farr clan. We would spend our Weekends having the most wonderful adventures - running around and playing on the land, making dens and generally causing mischief - we must have driven her mad!
She gave me my first job on the Milk Round, although I’m not sure whether I actually realised when I accepted the job that it would involve getting up at 2.30 in the morning!! But to see her at work was pretty inspiring stuff, she would carry a bottle carrier of milk in each hand which would be enough to cover 10 houses worth of milk in one go. In spite of the fact that I would be starving hungry half way round and would need her to stop to feed me, she would not eat until we were finished apart from a Werthers Original or two…
She was also the ‘Protector’ of Ringstead although you probably don’t know this, she was the person watching over you all at 3.00 in the morning. I remember on many occasions getting frustrated as it was cold and dark but if she spotted anything suspicious (a car she didn’t know or someone’s lights on that normally shouldn’t be) she would stop that float and make sure that all was ok before before we moved on.
It’s comforting to know that Grandad is now going to be reunited with the ‘Boss’ as I know he will have been lost without you and will love having you back in charge.
Memories from Leannder
As I look back over time, I find myself wondering....

Did I thank you enough for all you did. For teaching me by your example the value of hard work, courage, learning and strong will.

I wonder if I ever thanked you for the simple things you gave me like laughter, a back rub, your last Werthers Original, stories of the past, my favourite dinners, wrapping me up all snug on a cold morning.

Did I thank you for always making time. For loving me and cherishing me like only a devoted Nan would do. For providing me with a happy haven, a place I called home, my respite and my playground.

Is it too late to thank you for the random memories that fill my head. Your soft skin, lip balm, floppy wrist, library books (by the dozen), your comfortable bed, padded foot stools that i would lay my head on and sleep, glass tea mugs, the way you said "Cyril" when he annoyed you, Eccles cakes, snotty handkerchiefs. I could go on.

Thank you for giving me your brave smile, your ambition, your strength, your determination and your bossiness. These are just a few parts of you than live on in me.

I probably didn’t say thank you enough but I am hoping that you knew all along how much you meant to me and the family.

I have talked about you so very fondly all around the world. I will tell my kids about you. I will not dwell on what Alzheimers took from us, I will remember you as the 'brave soldier' you are. As a woman who served her beloved Ringstead and as my dear Nan, my friend, my boss, my inspiration. Night Night Nan, sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite xxx
My memories of my wonderful Nan - Portia

I have so many wonderful memories I will cherish that I made with my Nan, things that remind me of these memories are whenever I see or eat weathers Original it takes me back to my childhood as Nan loved these and would always share these with us grandchildren, her blue lip balm that she always wore, her peaches and cream at night with one of her good books that she loved to read, her egg and cress finger sandwiches ( I just can't make them as good as Nan), her amazing Sunday dinners no one comes close to Nan’s roast dinner. She loved her Eccles cake, to this day I still love a good Eccles cake and a cup a tea.
Me and Nan would spend loads of time making cakes together in the kitchen and she would always let me lick the bowl after because it was always the best bit about cake making, I can always remember being told not to touch the jam tart until they had cool down or I would burn my mouth but that never stopped any of us grandchildren and we never learnt even when we did burn our mouth.
Watching Nan help the community which she did a lot was always a joy so wonderful to see and when she used to ask me to help after school I would get so excited because it meant I got to spend extra time with her just the two of us. Evergreen was always a highlight for me helping to serve tea, coffee, cakes, bread and butter, Nan would always save me a slice of cake and a cup of tea for when I finished help with the serving. Nan loved her cup of teas and I think that is why I'm a big tea drinker now.
I can also remember hiding from Nan (Ross will know all about this) whenever me and Ross where ever naughty she would come in and bang our heads together, after this we would always hide so we didn't get it again when we were naughty.
Collecting milk money with Nan was always great fun specially when I had to go to houses with dogs (I didn't like dog when I was a child) because as soon as I would knock and hear a dog I would run away and Nan would have to go back to collect the money (Nan and the customers found it funny me hiding from the dog), I always loved going back home and helping Nan count the money and but it into little piles (like my brother said this is how I count my money now).
Watching my Nan change with Alzheimer's was very hard for us all but was especially hard for my dad who cared for Nan for 12 years even though she was in Five Gable care home he would visit her daily and spend hours talking to her about the day and would never give up no matter how hard it got, he has been so strong through it all and I can honestly say my Nan would be so proud of him and thank him from the bottom of her heart for everything he has done. I believe Nan knew dad would get through this difficult time when she left to be with Grandad and Patrick again as she knew there was a wonderful new grandchild on the way that will get in through this and help him stay strong.
It was always a joy to seeing Nan and Grandad (the ultimate team) always together because it was the best feeling ever seeing true love. Seeing my Grandad lost and broke from Nan becoming ill with Alzheimer was very difficult to as he didn’t just lose his wife but he lost his best friend and soul mate that he spent his amazing life with.
To know Nan has been reunited with Grandad and her son Patrick who she lost many years ago, they can finally make more memories together and watch over us and protect us.
Until we meet again I will truly miss you and I want to thank you for everything you have done for me and all the wonderful memories we made. I promise I will take care of dad. Sleep Tight I love you unconditionally xxxxxx