My sister and I were Barbara's bridesmaids. I remember visiting her at Camberley and Worthing before she moved. We were always warmly welcomed and well fed. She was sometimes called upon for her nursing skills when the family needed her, and I will always remember how she looked after George in his final years. Steve and I enjoyed our visits to Milton Keynes and she was fond of our granddaughter Lilah. I will miss our chats on the phone.

A beautiful tribute written by her eldest son John Bennett, read at the funeral by her granddaughter Charlotte Bennett: Apologies Mum, but I’m on the other side of the world. I am so glad I could visit twice, in last year or so. We had a few wonderful months together, chatting, watching quiz shows, the Proms and old movies. I particularly want to thank my brother David, his wife Janet and my nieces Charlotte and Jennifer who she was so fond of, for being there at the end when I couldn’t. They have been brilliant looking after my mother. I am thankful she could end her days at home. It goes without saying that I will miss her immense love, her laughter, intelligence, curiosity, generosity, and her enthusiasm, an underrated virtue. She was a chatty, friendly Scouser, would talk to anyone. And she is missed by my partner, Bronwyn, who she loved. They shared a deep love of the arts. She was born the same day as the late Queen into a large, loving extended family. World War Two threw her into another life, as a young, dedicated nurse caring for wounded and dying soldiers. In her 1969 book ‘On Death and Dying’, Kübler-Ross suggested there are five stages of dying—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I think my mother skipped most of these to reach acceptance. She lost both brothers and many close friends over the course of her long life. She told me she was ready to go a while back. I thank all her good friends in Shenley Wood Care Village, staff and all the carers, who I got to know through visiting over the years. Claire, her cleaner became a friend, and wrote to me, ‘She was definitely one incredible lady who I had the pleasure to meet and spend time with. She made a huge impact on my life and for that I will be forever grateful.’ What could be a finer epitaph? I recommend watching my mother in sparkling form on The One Show, just 6 years ago. A reminder of her wit and warmth. Just Google, ‘Barbara Bennett, One Show’. She will live forever in the digital kingdom of YouTube. And us for those of us left behind, she used to say, ‘Make every day count’. And she did for 35,326 of them.

My mother lived a long and rich life. She loved to travel after her and dad retired, came to see me in Australia three times. We had adventures up north in the world’s oldest rainforest, in the central desert, and in the centre of Sydney, but I think she was happiest in Cornwall, on the wild northern coastline. We often talked about our summers renting a cottage down an unsealed road in Trebetherick. The beach of Daymer Bay, the old ferry from Rock, the thrifty wild Pentire cliffs, an occasional Chough among the Thrift. John Betjeman lived in the village and wrote: I know so well this turfy mile, These clumps of sea-pink withered brown, The breezy cliff, the awkward stile, The sandy path that takes me down. From ‘Greenaway’.