Former Keswick primary school teacher Elizabeth “Betty” Stuart returned to her home town on Wednesday to celebrate her 100th birthday.
Betty now lives in Longton, near Preston, but was born in Little Braithwaite, and this week returned there with family members, knocked on the door, introduced herself and was willingly shown around by the current owners.
Betty attended Crosthwaite Primary School and then Keswick School, where she was head girl in 1942. She then went to Edge Hill College in Ormskirk to train as a teacher, before returning to Cumbria and teaching seven-year-olds at Cockermouth, at St John’s in Keswick, and at Brunswick Road School, in Penrith.
A keen sportswoman, she met her husband, the late Jack Stuart, on the tennis court in Keswick. They were married for 62 years and received a card from the Queen to mark their diamond wedding anniversary. Their eldest two sons, Tony and Ian, were born at Penrith Maternity Hospital, and they also had a daughter, Anne, and another son Neil, who were born in Preston.
After spending a short spell in Darlington, Betty, Jack, Tony and Ian emigrated to Toronto in Canada in 1957. Betty said they loved it there and settled well, but Jack’s firm, Pecks of Wigan, called him back to the UK to become a director and then take over the company, which made tarpaulins for lorries.
Jack then started up his own company, Stuart Canvas Products, which, among other things, made covers for Test cricket grounds and Wimbledon’s famous tennis courts.
The family settled in Longton, near Preston, where Ann and Neil were born, and where Betty continued to teach.
Betty has travelled extensively, visiting Hong Kong, Malaysia, Africa, New Zealand and Australia to name a few. Son Neil lives with wife Paula in New Zealand, and Betty has visited them five times in the past 10 years. They were in Keswick this week to celebrate with her. Tony now lives in Surrey, Ian near Betty in Longton, and Ann in Southport. She has 10 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
While in Keswick on Wednesday, Betty — who is a regular contributor to the Old Keswick Facebook page — bumped into a former pupil Malcolm Craghill, who was having coffee in the Skiddaw Hotel, where the celebrations were happening. She and Jack were friends with Malcolm’s parents, Herbert and Betty Craghill. Betty (Stuart) also knew Malcolm’s wife Joan, who was in Temple Sports, owned by son Johnny, which has been run by four generations of Craghills, starting with Malcolm’s grandfather Joe and then his dad Herbert.
Betty puts her zest for life and good health partly down to being a non-smoker and non-drinker, although she does like “plenty of tea”. She also has a saying, “It’s not the years in your life; it’s the life in your years” which is clearly very much the case.
