Sad farewell to Herald stalwart
MUCH-loved former Herald team member Ann Cranmer died last month. Here her husband Tim tells of her life, her time at the Herald and their life beyond those years:
Ann was born in Moreton-in-Marsh in June 1949, living at Red Lion Cottages, Chipping Campden.
She attended St Catherine’s RC School there before moving to London with her family at the age of 11. She attended St Edmund’s RC Secondary School, becoming house captain.
After leaving school, Ann worked for WI Life magazine and later as a cost clerk for Blue Circle in Victoria. She took up a hotel duty manager’s post so she could move back to her roots in Chipping Campden, where she met her husband Tim.
Ann then went into estate agency at Locke and England, Jackson Stopps and Staff and then for local and corporate agencies around the country, including Blackpool, Birmingham and Stratford.
After a move to Somerset, where she enjoyed a spell at the West Somerset Free Press as a sales executive, the couple returned to the Stratford area, where Ann worked for more estate agencies before joining the Herald, progressing from sales to property co-ordinator until her retirement. A lot of hard work, deadlines, fun and laughter followed and she made some good friends.
On one occasion, returning to the car park in Windsor Street, Ann found her car’s fuel line had been cut, with the culprits leaving it spewing petrol. The AA refused to enter the car park, while the fire service wanted to charge Ann for cleaning the spillage.
The Herald came to the rescue: a member of the team brought the car down to ground level, where the AA fixed it, and editorial had a word with the fire service.
Other images come to mind – lunchtime mad dashes to M&S and wine raids to the local supermarket with a colleague.
Ann enjoyed her life at the Herald and was often on the phone at some strange hours as the property market boomed at that time of re-development in Stratford.
After her retirement, Ann was always active. She loved her garden and took a great interest in it, and was pleased when I kept the lawn cut and the edges tidy.
We travelled to Ireland, driving to Limerick to meet up with family a few times, and enjoyed coach tours around the UK including Northumbria – Alnwick, Bamburgh Castle and the Farne Islands. We liked New Lanark and Stirling Castle and also spent a great deal of time exploring Devon and Cornwall as Ann liked Agatha Christie’s home, Greenway.
In the last few months, we managed to get back to her beloved Cotswolds and visit Chipping Campden.
We shall all miss Ann very much.
