Maureen Watson obituary

The Guardian

3 days ago

My aunt Maureen Watson, who has died aged 98, lived her life with great energy, to the point that even when she began to slow down in her 80s it felt as if she was maintaining the same pace as other people.
A literacy and numeracy teacher in the prison sector for many years, including while she raised her family, she was involved in local politics with the Labour party from the second world war onwards, and was a community volunteer in the Lake District. She also led walking holidays in Greece.
Maureen was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, the only child of Edith (nee Wray), an office worker, and Frank Symington, a commercial traveller. During the second world war, at the age of 14, she was evacuated, with the rest of her school, Dame Allan's, to Ambleside in the Lake District, where she lived for three years. There she fell in love with the lakes and fells, with the result that hiking and camping always played an important part in her life.
At King's College in Newcastle (at the time part of Durham University), where she gained a first class degree in economics after the war, she met Jack Watson, a fellow student, and they married in 1950.
Three children were born in the 1950s: Kath, Judith and John, and the family settled in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, where Maureen worked as a part-time literacy and numeracy teacher in a local prison, and later at a drop-in centre in Leeds.
After her marriage ended in divorce in the 80s, she decided to move back to Ambleside, and took early retirement. She became a National Park voluntary warden and was active on the Ambleside Civic Trust committee. She also led guided walks in the area and was a stalwart of the local Scottish dancing group.
In her 50s Maureen taught herself Greek, after which she led walking holidays on four different Greek islands. In her early 60s she also fulfilled a long-held ambition to hike in the Himalayas, climbing to Everest base camp.
Maureen helped with canvassing for Labour in the 1945 election in Newcastle upon Tyne. Later she was active in party branches in Wetherby and Ambleside/Windermere, while also taking part in many anti-war and anti-nuclear protests, including at Menwith Hill and Greenham Common.
In her last few years she still liked to get out and walk each day, even if no further than Zeffirelli's cafe in Ambleside for lunch and then the nearby library for a regular read of the Guardian. She remained engaged in current affairs almost to the end.
Reluctantly accepting that she finally needed some help, Maureen moved into a care home at the end of 2023.
Kath predeceased her. She is survived by Judith and John, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.