Views from the Pews

Views from the Pews

Parish Profile

Asphodel (‘Jackie’) Horner

On Empire Day, 24 May 1930, at Leamington Spa in Warwickshire Asphodel Horner was born to her doting parents, Iris and John Horner. She was their only child, and they called her ‘Treasure’, or ‘Del’, though Miss Horner is better known to us all as ‘Jackie’, the name bestowed on her by her life-long friend Kay Gulliver.

Jackie remembers a happy early childhood in Leamington Spa, attending primary school on one end of the Parade, and visiting the Pump Room at the other end, where a Hungarian band leader, Jan Berenska, often played with his orchestra in the restaurant. Jackie’s love of music began then, and when very young she was taught to play the piano by her mother. She recalls the glamour and excitement of Coronation Day 1937, with all the buildings and homes in the Royal Spa town festooned with bunting, her own being hung with Union flags by her father, and being taken to London on the day after to see the decorations there. She also recalls with pleasure being taken to the pantomime at the Hippodrome in Birmingham in the new year of 1938/39. Sadly her father, who had been ill for some years, was admitted to hospital in early 1939, and died soon after, and life changed for young Jackie and her mother.

Later in that fateful year Jackie and her mother were invited to holiday in Gatley, Cheshire, at the home of her aunt and uncle, her mother’s brother. Whilst they were there, on 3 September 1939 war with Germany was declared, and mother and daughter were asked to stay in Gatley. This they did, Jackie’s mother hurriedly dashing home to pack up the winter woollies, and arrange for the neighbours to keep an eye on the house in Leamington Spa. Jackie well remembers that many evacuees were to be seen on the streets of Gatley, presumably from London, in the first few months of the war. Jackie joined her cousin at the little primary school there, run by Miss Lowcock and Mrs Moss in the downstairs rooms of their house. One of the other young students there at the time, Judith Chalmers, went on to be a famous face on television.

By May 1940 Jackie’s mother had decided to return to their home in Leamington Spa, and Jackie remembers that with its proximity to Birmingham and Coventry, the town was also a victim of the air raids, with a bomb falling on the church graveyard. By 1942 Jackie’s mother was very unwell, and they both went to stay with her mother’s twin sister and her family in Horbury, near Wakefield, Yorkshire. It was here, in the autumn, that tragically Jackie’s mother died,

leaving her 12-year-old daughter an orphan. Jackie’s life changed once again, and she spent the remainder of her school days, until she was 17, at a boarding school, Saxenholme School at Birkdale, Southport, which was run by a relative. Her holidays were divided between her uncle at Gatley and her aunt at Horbury.

Jackie’s days at Saxenholme School were happy ones, and she has many fond memories of the girls she boarded with, the pranks and fun of school life despite the war, and in particular the excitement and jubilation of VE Day, listening to the announcement of the official ending of the war in Europe on the radio in the school gymnasium, followed by an evening outing to the main shopping centre in Southport, Lord Street, where the whole population gathered, and fireworks were set off and flags flown.

After leaving school Jackie worked for a time at the departmental store, Broadbents, in Southport and it was during this time she met her lifelong friend Kay Gulliver. Kay was twelve years older than Jackie, and had trained as a hairdresser before becoming a Land Girl during the war. She invited Jackie to come and live with her and her elderly parents in New Lane, a small village just outside Southport, about five miles from the town of Ormskirk, famous for its gingerbread.

In 1960 Jackie and Kay, in company with the elderly Mr and Mrs Gulliver, came up to Scotland to holiday in the Stewartry. They liked the area so much they decided to stay, firstly in Greenlaw Guest House, just outside Castle Douglas, and then latterly in the tiny hamlet of Abbey Yard, in a cottage called Kirkbank, on the road up to Balmaghie church. Jackie worked for a time in the Greenlaw Guest House, doing housekeeping duties, until sadly it burnt down. In 1961 Kay’s mother, elderly and unwell, died on New Year’s Day, and her father moved into a home in Ayr, where he too died a few months later.

The next few years were filled with hobbies and fun - Jackie taught piano lessons to the children after school, and pursued her skills of embroidery, painting and knitting. She has never learned to drive, Kay being the one who drove them about the countryside. Kay was determined that Jackie should learn, and cajoled her into getting a provisional licence and then signing up for lessons from Mr Ewart, a driving instructor in Kirkcudbright. Jackie had one lesson and on the strength of that Kay took her out for a practice run in the country. Jackie was terrified behind the wheel, her first and abiding instinct when facing oncoming traffic was to swerve the car into the hedge or ditch. By the end of that lesson Kay declared she was never going to be driven by Jackie, and after only one more lesson from Mr Ewart, with sighs of relief all round, Jackie gave up the quest for a licence.

In 1964 Kay’s elderly cousin, Dorothy Chambers, came to stay for a visit and implored the pair to accompany her back to Bath, where she lived, as she was increasingly unable to care for herself. They agreed to go, and selling up in Scotland relocated to Dorothy’s flat in Rivers Street, just off the Royal Crescent. Jackie quickly found work in a guest house in the Royal Crescent, but sadly was unable to join in attendance of the local church with her two friends as she worked on Sundays. She remembers Bath as a fascinating city, full of history and literary connections.

By 1967 a decision was made to return to the Stewartry, and a house was found to fit them all in Dalbeattie, and where they joined Park Church, a Church of Scotland under the ministry of Mr Pettigrew. Park Church is now the Baptist Church of Dalbeattie. Jackie joined the choir, and remembers the organ as being particularly lovely. She worked here for some time in the Maxwell Arms Hotel, and they were happy years, with Jackie taking on the care of her increasingly frail friends, but also finding time to serve others, particularly in Alma House, playing the piano there for Sunday worship. But by 1975 the stairs in the Dalbeattie house had become a real trial for the two elderly ladies, and on hearing of Viewfield Bungalow, in Springholm, the decision was made to sell the Dalbeattie house and move once again.

By 1978 Kay Gulliver was very unwell, though still quite young at 60, and she died that year leaving Jackie with the sole care of Dorothy, by now frail and bedridden. Jackie nursed her friend to the end, fitting in other acts of service, such as playing the piano for the monthly service in the Springholm village hall, which was led by the Haugh of Urr Minister, Mr Harris. Jackie recalls the hall as being most damp, and the piano as being distinctly elderly and it too in need of nursing - many of its notes were missing, which occasioned amusement at best and frustration at worst!

In 1987 Dorothy Chambers died at the grand old age of 93, and Jackie could now flower into an active member of her church and community. Working tirelessly as an Elder and Board member in the church, Jackie is to be seen on Sundays setting out and distributing hymn books, often walking to church in the better weather. She is an active member of the Guild, and much appreciated for her amusing contributions at our social events, with her light-hearted poems and recitations.

In Springholm Jackie has been a member of the Community Council and though no longer the secretary, still attends the meetings. She is a member of the Springholm Elderly Thursday club, is on the Senior Citizen’s Committee and the Village Voices group, which gives talks in the local school to keep the memory of the history of the village alive. But to many people of Springholm, Jackie is best known in her yellow coat, picking up the roadside litter and keeping the village looking lovely. With the busy A75 trunk road running through it, and a village shop selling sandwiches, food and drinks, it attracts plenty of litter from passing traffic as well as thoughtless inhabitants, and it is Jackie’s cheery can-do attitude and willing hard work that attracts the admiration of all. As one of the inhabitants of the village said, “We could do with an army of Miss Horners in the villages in our area.” We all appreciate and applaud her example and endeavour. Well done Jackie!

[ Submitted by Archie Nicolson (P6) and Mark Somerville (P7) of Springholm Primary School ]