Mary Bryars (1917-2011)

 

 

 

Former Fairlynch Museum steward Mary Bryars. Photo by her grandson Ben Simpson

 

Volunteer helpers at Budleigh’s Fairlynch Museum were sorry to hear in January 2011 of the death of Mary Bryars.

Along with her husband Denys, Mary moved to Budleigh Salterton in 1980. Five years later, like many married couples, they volunteered to become stewards at Fairlynch.

'He did the desk, she did upstairs,' recalled the late Sylvia Merkel, who organised the stewards' rota. Denys, who had come to live in Budleigh after retiring as company chairman of the Sheffield Smelting Company, was remembered by Sylvia as ‘a lovely man with a white beard’.

Mary, who lived to the great age of 94, made many friends among her fellow-stewards and was also much involved with the church.

Sadly, she was widowed but carried on the work of being a steward at Fairlynch until she moved to live at Shandford Care Home on Station Road in Budleigh.

‘There have been 400 stewards since 1967 when Fairlynch opened in Budleigh Salterton,’ said the Museum's co-founder Joy Gawne.

‘And we're so grateful to every one of them. Without their help Fairlynch would not survive and would go the way of many other museums in small towns.’

This article was originally published in Fairlynch Museum’s newsletter, Spring 2011