A woman who spent her career covering the news in her native Eden has died, aged 67.
Elizabeth Margaret Fletcher — for decades reporting as Liz Stannard — joined the Cumberland & Westmorland Herald in 1973 and spent 18 years as a journalist, followed by 20 as news editor and five as a part-time sub-editor before taking early retirement at the end of 2020 because of ill health.
The daughter of Peter and Margaret Smith, who farmed at Milestone House, near Melmerby, she was born at the then Penrith Maternity Home, in Castletown, and enjoyed having the unusual date of birth of 5-5-55. She had one brother, David, who was born in 1960.
Liz had a great interest in flora and fauna from a young age and attended Hunsonby Primary School, occasionally unsettling teachers by bringing animals into class, including eels and bats which were later released back to the wild.
She passed her 11-plus to go on to the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, at Penrith, and after A-levels was indentured as a reporter at the Herald, which required studying shorthand and typing at the Briggs’ Commercial College, in the town’s Croft Avenue, and gaining her journalism qualifications at the Harris College, Preston.
In later years she was an assessor for students on the journalism course at Lancaster University. Liz’s introduction to local government reporting in 1973-74 covered the demise of Penrith’s urban and rural councils and changes to those at Alston, Appleby and Kirkby Stephen, and creation of their successor Eden District Council, as well as the combining of the old Cumberland and Westmorland authorities into Cumbria.
She particularly enjoyed covering local government stories in Eden in the days before councillors were aligned to political parties, which she felt took away the “voices” of individual councillors.
Reporting took her all over Eden district and beyond and included covering magistrates’ courts at Penrith, Appleby, Kirkby Stephen, Shap and Alston and occasionally Keswick, all now closed. In the early days of her career, Herald reporters worked almost every Saturday from spring to autumn, covering May and June Days, festivals, agricultural and poultry shows and fetes, which she enjoyed.
She also particularly remembered a day of shooting drill with the Army on the Warcop range; a shift spent with an ambulance crew including attending a fatal accident; royal visits; a highly charged county council meeting at Barrow where a single vote led to the closure of Penrith fire station; and a murder at Appleby, just weeks before having her first daughter.
She worked for four editors — as a reporter for Frank Shaw and John Hurst, as news editor from 1995 to 2015 when Colin Maughan was at the helm, and then as a part-time sub-editor for the final five years of her career, latterly under the Herald’s first woman editor, Emily Atherton.
Liz worked at the Herald from age 18 to 65, except for four years after she had had her two daughters, Hannah and Kate, of whom she was immensely proud.
Hannah now works part-time for Eden Council and is a very hands-on farmer with husband George Henry Morton, at Church Farm, Gamblesby, as well as caring for their two daughters, Georgia and Megan.
Kate studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, in Glasgow, and worked in the theatre industry and as a lecturer at RCS for 14 years before returning to Cumbria.
She lives at Croft House, Hunsonby, with her partner, Richard Cooper, and works as an Iyengar yoga teacher, fitness instructor and remedial massage therapist. Liz’s daughters were born when she lived at Redhills, near Penrith, with first husband Robert Stannard, who also worked at the Herald. However, she and the girls lived at Hunsonby from 1983, initially with her parents at Croft House.
Her long-standing partner was Garfield Owen (Gary) Fletcher and the family lived at West View, Hunsonby, and then Pennine Terrace, Winskill. Liz and husband Gary remained there until her death where Gary cared for her full-time and gave great support and comfort to her during her two-and-a-half year battle with cancer.
Liz was a lifelong supporter of St Michael and All Angels’ Church, Addingham, being on the church council from the age of 18 until her death and serving two stints as secretary. At various times she also served on the committees of Hunsonby community centre, swimming pool and children’s and over-60s parties, and on the village’s two charity trusts, for education and for the poor. She was on the committee of a playgroup at Newbiggin, near Stainton, while living at Redhills, and Langwathby School PTA when her daughters were pupils there.
She was also involved in poppy selling in her community for almost 60 years, initially with her grandmother who was the local poppy distributor and seller, a role later taken on by her mother and then by Liz.
Proud to be Cumbrian, she spoke and also wrote in dialect and was a life member of the Lakeland Dialect Society. She had a lifelong interest in farming and rural life and in her younger days enjoyed many countryside pursuits, from beekeeping and ferreting to harness racing and curing feathers for fishing flies.
She also enjoyed sewing and preserving, making jams, jellies and chutneys each year. Gardening was a great pleasure, especially propagating plants, and she also dabbled in oil and watercolour painting and liked learning about Cumbrian history and customs.
She and Gary enjoyed many holidays in Europe, although she had never travelled abroad until the age of 50. The couple were also honoured to be nominated by the Herald to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace attended by the late Queen Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the royal family.
Throughout Liz’s life, the whole family — at various times three or four generations — enjoyed a British seaside holiday together each year, until COVID in 2020 broke the 64-year record. However, they continued the tradition in 2021 and 2022.
Liz’s greatest joy was her family. She was carer for a number of relatives at various times from 1980 onwards, and went to part-time working latterly in her Herald career because of the demands of looking after her mother during her final years and her brother David, who has learning disabilities.
She particularly delighted in the company of her granddaughters, Georgia and Megan, and played a pivotal role in their lives.
She also enjoyed watching the growth and development of Gary’s grandchildren, Jacob, Samson, Maxwell, Logan, Hudson and Romy-Jo.
Liz is survived by husband Gary, her daughters Hannah and Kate, and their partners, granddaughters, brother David Smith, and by her husband’s sons and grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held at St Michael & All Angels Church, Addingham, on Friday, March 10 at 1.30pm.
Family flowers only, but if desired donations in memory of Liz may be made to Macmillan Cancer Support, and can be left at the service, made online at www.walkersfunerals.co.uk or sent c/o Walkers Funeral Directors, Tynefield House, Penrith, CA11 8HY.
