Throughout this busy period of her life Pat and the family were always bringing up at least one dog and often many more, that invariably took part in all the family's shared activities.
As her sons grew older and left the family home her interests in dogs grew from purely pet ownership to the training and working of retrievers for the local ‘shoots' where she has become a well loved and respected member of the shooting fraternity.
As a result Pat and her Labradors have become almost a fixture of the country scene in west Sussex.
Regardless of weather or terrain, winter or summer Pat and her dogs were out in the countryside at every opportunity. Her much beloved Labradors always a shining example of well kept and trained gundog/retrievers
As such, was the indomitable character of the Pat we all know, growing in strength. Her love and dedication to the way of life of a Sussex countrywoman led to her staunch defence of this fast disappearing way of life.
Horrified by the urbanisation of the countryside and the county she loved, the destruction of the environment, the blindness and ignorance of the politicians to this disappearing way of life, she became an active campaigner with the Countryside Alliance.
Despite her advancing years Pat wasted no opportunity to make her presence felt in support of the ideals of the Alliance and the countryside movement as it is today. She was always aware of the risks involved in public protest and the dangers of confrontation with over zealous members of the constabulary during such events and was fully prepared to be "locked up"!!
In her early eighties she took part in the two famous ‘Liberty and Livelihood" protest rallies in London, the very thought of doing so, completely alien to her sensibilities and upbringing.
However, needs must and marching shoulder to shoulder with the hundreds-of-thousands of protesters through the streets of London she outpaced her much younger ‘minders' and was heard to comment that despite the gruelling trek and ‘firm ground', it was "easier than a day out on the downs in heavy going".
Pat will be sadly missed by all who knew her. She possessed the bearing, loyalty, decency and inherent civility of a true gentlewoman.
She had little patience for the shallowness and irrelevance of the modern, money-orientated, urban society now dominating our world.
Her values lay in family, personal integrity, well-trained dogs and children (she often confused the two); The keeping of good company and friends in a civilised environment, accompanied if possible by a faithful dog and glass of good whiskey.
Taken from the euology read out at Pats' funeral. Many thanks to her family for allowing us to print this and our condolences to them.
