• Contact us
  • About us
  • Digital edition
  • Online archive
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    Penrith man admits possessing cannabis twice with intent to supply

    Penrith man admits possessing cannabis twice with intent to supply

    Risks and strategies for flexible pension drawdown

    Risks and strategies for flexible pension drawdown

    Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

    Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

    £37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

    £37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

    Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

    Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

    New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

    New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

    18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

    18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

    Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

    Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

    Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

    Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

  • Sport
    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • Buy Photos
  • Buy your paper
  • North Lakes Living
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    Penrith man admits possessing cannabis twice with intent to supply

    Penrith man admits possessing cannabis twice with intent to supply

    Risks and strategies for flexible pension drawdown

    Risks and strategies for flexible pension drawdown

    Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

    Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

    £37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

    £37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

    Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

    Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

    New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

    New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

    18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

    18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

    Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

    Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

    Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

    Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

  • Sport
    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • Buy Photos
  • Buy your paper
  • North Lakes Living
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
No Result
View All Result
Home Latest

Dwynwen Kovacs – volunteer, traveller and always smiling

by CWH
22 July 2021
in Latest, Obituaries
A A
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Dwynwen Kovacs
Dwynwen Kovacs

In the summer of 2014, Dwynwen Kovacs became a volunteer in the Eden Animal Rescue shop in Great Dockray, Penrith.

She had been refused as a volunteer in other charity shops as she was over 80 years of age.

Over the following weeks, staff there came to find out a great deal more about Dwyn, as she preferred to be called.

Not because she was a boastful person, on the contrary, she had a very quiet and pleasant personality, but purely from a natural nosiness on their part.

They were intrigued by a number of small mysteries in her life.

Born in Wales, why did she have both a British and a Canadian passport? What was she, a woman in her late September years, doing on her own in this quiet English northern outpost of Penrith?

Another point of interest, she had purchased outright, one of the only two houses in the controversial New Squares development, just a few hundred yards from the Eden Animal Rescue shop, and just behind Penrith’s historical 16th century public house, the Two Lions.

They were to discover later that Dwyn had at least seven passports ­— five British and two Canadian ­— and that she had backpacked, as a single woman, through countries you would not go near today, or even then perhaps, for fear of at least attack, or incarceration as an invented spy or political hostage.

Her travels embraced Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, India, South America, Singapore, Iraq, Jordan, Hungary, Egypt, Nepal, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as a few that no longer exist.

She even had the distinction of being forcibly deported from Egypt.

Somewhere along the way she married a Hungarian. It was a good marriage, and with her husband, Sandor Kovacs, she had a relatively quiet period, working for Bell telephone in Canada, certainly for long enough to be given a gold watch when she left the company.

During this period she raised two children, Kate and Bill, who became interesting people in their own right.

But Dwyn still had itchy feet, and with her husband’s agreement, she dug out the old backpack and made her way to Cumbria, where she developed a deep love for the Lake District, returning again and again.

When her husband died, her visits became more frequent, and eventually, permanent, purchasing the New Squares house and washing up at the door of the animal charity shop, where, over the next few years, she enriched the lives of colleagues, and became friends with many customers.

Staff have many amusing stories of Dwyn’s time in Penrith.

Once, when passing the Turkish barber’s in Middlegate, she thought it was time for a haircut.

“But we only cut men’s hair”, the chap explained.

This did not deter Dwyn, who explained that refusing to cut her hair could be seen as discrimination against the fairer sex.

We much admired her Turkish haircut when she came to work the next morning.

Once, colleagues took her to the giant Imax cinema at Rheged.

The feature started with a small, normal sized picture in the middle of the massive screen, then the music swelled to a crescendo, and the picture, in an instant, enlarged to fill the giant screen, the size of 20 double-decker buses.

Dwyn sat bolt upright and exclaimed in a loud voice: “Oh my!” Needless to say, everyone in the auditorium heard her.

When Dwyn became ill, her daughter, Kate, came over several times from Canada, some times accompanied by her husband, Mark.

Dwyn’s son Bill also made a visit.

Dwyn’s Canadian family were due to come over this September, depending on COVID-19 travel rules.

It is a cruel twist of fate that the recent restrictions meant they could not travel to be with Dwyn at the end, a fate suffered by so many families during this pandemic.

During her time in a care home, Dwyn, who was 88 when she died, also touched the lives of the residents and staff, who said she was lovely, never complained, and was always smiling ­— that was a facet of Dwyn’s personality that was always there ­— she never complained about anything, she just got on with it.

Related Posts

Penrith man admits possessing cannabis twice with intent to supply
Latest

Penrith man admits possessing cannabis twice with intent to supply

17 June 2025
£37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads
Latest

£37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

13 June 2025
Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy
Latest

Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

13 June 2025
Former Appleby mayor Frank Harland
Obituaries

Former Appleby mayor Frank Harland

6 June 2025
Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history
Latest

Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

6 June 2025
Honorary assistant bishop Geoffrey Hewlett Thompson
Obituaries

Honorary assistant bishop Geoffrey Hewlett Thompson

6 June 2025
No Result
View All Result

Stay connected

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Most popular

Flower fairies of Kirkby Stephen brighten people’s day

Flower fairies of Kirkby Stephen brighten people’s day

13 June 2025
Risks and strategies for flexible pension drawdown

Risks and strategies for flexible pension drawdown

15 June 2025
Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

13 June 2025
New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

13 June 2025
Carbon audit produces positive results for North Sheep host family

Carbon audit produces positive results for North Sheep host family

13 June 2025
Penrith man admits possessing cannabis twice with intent to supply

Penrith man admits possessing cannabis twice with intent to supply

17 June 2025
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald Logo

33 Middlegate
Penrith
Cumbria
CA11 7SY

Phone: 01768 862313
Email: news@cwherald.com

Registered in England as Barrnon Media Limited. No: 12475190
VAT registration number: 343486488

Explore

  • News
  • Sport
  • Farming
  • Property
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Your view

Useful links

  • Contact us
  • Photosales
  • Online archive
  • Buy your paper
  • Digital edition
  • North Lakes Living
  • Advertise
  • About us

Follow us on

© Barrnon Media Limited 2025

Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy

This website and its associated newspaper are members of the Independent Press Standards Organisation
Review Your Cart
0
Discount
Add Coupon Code
Subtotal
Total Installment Payments
Bundle Discount
Checkout

 
0
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • more
    • North Lakes Living
    • Buy Photos
    • Buy your paper
    • About us
    • Contact us

© 2020 Cumberland & Westmorland Herald