The Maulds Meaburn area lost a woman who devoted her seemingly boundless energy to helping communities with which she came into contact with the death of Annie Kindleysides, aged 73.
Born in Maulds Meaburn, Annie was the eldest daughter of the late Dorothy and Bill Kindleysides, who was not one to follow tradition and believed girls should be educated while boys came home to farm. Despite this, both girls of the family were brought up to be willing and able to tackle every farm job, with Annie’s particular talent being tractor work.
Away from the farm, she ran the local Sunday school and spent a lot of time riding half broken horses without fear and trials bikes at great speed over rough farm tracks. She rode her Connemara mare everywhere and as a teenager helped to break young horses until a pony took off and she had a serious accident, resulting in several broken ribs and a punctured lung.
After her primary education at the village school, she attended Appleby Grammar School, where she stayed on to take A-levels. With these under her belt, she left home to study sociology at Newcastle Polytechnic, thus becoming one of the first people from Maulds Meaburn to go into higher education.
Studying sociology fulfilled a need in Annie. As much and she loved her rural upbringing, she had always been curious about the wider world. She made an impression on another student with a similar outlook when she met Brian Morris in 1969 and this started a relationship which continued for the rest of her life.
On finishing her degree course, Annie decided to embark on a teaching career and studied for a suitable qualification at Edge Hill College, near Liverpool. Training organised by the college was in notoriously tough inner-city schools, where she thrived. She gained her PGCE qualification with distinction.
She and Brian next moved to Leicester, where she became a teacher for children with special educational needs (SEN) and demonstrated a natural empathy with youngsters who were struggling. Annie carried out her role so well she became the specialist teacher in charge of SEN at her school.
During this period, she was elected to be secretary to the county’s National Union of Teachers and got involved in local and national politics. The NHS, SEN and racism were her particular causes.
Keen to travel and expand her horizons, Annie applied to do a teacher exchange programme and spent a year being involved in SEN provision in the United States. She and Brian spent a year in Philadelphia and Annie insisted on having the Herald sent over.
There followed a move to Derbyshire, where she took on the job of equal opportunities co-ordinator for the county council, after which she and Brian moved to Scotland, with Brian working in Stirling and Annie in Fife.
She had become director for SEN in the Fife region, but felt dissatisfied with the restrictions of local government and decided to retrain as a chef. She attended catering college in Fife and went on to train in France at La Table de La Butte, an exclusive restaurant in Brittany. Restaurant catering was even tougher than her previous roles, but Annie persevered and this paid off.
In the early 2000s Annie decided it was time to move back home to Eden and settled back in as if she had never been away, launching herself back into village life.
She and Brian set up a bed and breakfast business at Meaburn Hill, with the kitchen being at the heart of its success. He grew the produce which she used to create delicious menus, while local hedgerows and producers contributed the rest. They won awards, peaking with Annie being declared UK Landlady of the Year in 2004. She also ran a Friday supper club which became very popular.
She filled every hour with something constructive. At one time she was chair of Crosby Ravenworth Parish Council and became an active committee member and chair of Maulds Meaburn village institute.
After the green corrugated iron hall was demolished and a new one built, Annie’s catering experience was useful when it came to designing the kitchen.
Under the auspices of the Lyvennet Community Trust, Annie, along with a strong core of like-minded folk, was involved in sending out a survey to see what was most important to the people of Crosby Ravensworth. Housing for local people, particularly the young and elderly, came out as a great need, and action was taken on this, with the Stoneworks Garth housing development being one result.
Annie also joined the committee of Crosby Ravensworth show, was on its ladies’ group and would help with the event’s logistics, as well as entering and often winning classes.
When she actually took some time for herself, she relaxed by reading or painting, and joined the parish art group. She was well known by local youngsters for helping them decorate pasche eggs.
Annie collapsed during a parish council meeting in 2018 and Brian looked after her for the next seven years, with support from friends and family.
They would would read to her, often from the Herald or favourite books.
A celebration of her life was held at Maulds Meaburn village institute. Glyn Jones Funeral Directors, Appleby, had charge of the arrangements.
