Pair’s towering service at Somme is hailed
A 77-YEAR-OLD Belfast woman who has brewed up an estimated 1.25 million cuppas for visitors to the Ulster Tower at the Somme is hanging up her teapot.
Phoebe Colligan and her husband Teddy have said farewell to their role as custodians of the memorial to the thousands of Ulstermen who died in the horrific bloodshed near the French village of Thiepval.
And though they’ve ‘retired’ before, the Colligans say there’s no going back on their decision this time.
As Phoebe busied herself in the Tower’s cafe, Teddy, a former fireman and motorcycling champion, conducted countless tours of the Tower and the reconstructed trenches across the road in Thiepval Wood.
He turned 80 last July, the same month that Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall attended the emotional commemorations to mark the centenary of the start of the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
And even though the Colligans were listed on the VIP list of official guests, Phoebe still helped to make tea for the hundreds of visitors from Northern Ireland.
Her daughter Carol, who is the director of the Somme Association, joined other leading figures in the organisation in paying tribute to her parents at a special party to mark their retirement last night in the Somme Museum at Conlig, near Bangor.
And Mrs Walker revealed that she’d first asked them to look after the Ulster Tower for two weeks.
“And that was 16 years ago,” she said. “But they just kept going back, with a few gaps along the way.
“They have given us magnificent service, but it’s probably time for them to relax and enjoy some holidays. It’s estimated that Mum made on average 75,000 cups of tea every year, though in 2016 the French reckoned there were 125,000 visitors.
“And no one gets out without having one of her special cuppas.”
The number of sandwiches Phoebe made during her time in France is incalculable.
But away from the tea and sarnies, the Colligans have also been passionate in their commitment to the Tower and to ensuring that the sacrifices at the Somme aren’t forgotten.
One of Phoebe’s own ancestors, Charles Grundy from the Shankill Road in Belfast, was a victim of the Great War.
He survived the Somme but died as a result of a mustard gas attack just before the end of the conflict in 1918.
He’s buried at a military cemetery on the French coast and Phoebe has been a regular visitor to pay her respects to the grandad she never knew.
In 2001, when the Colligans arrived at the Tower, they slept in a tent, but the upper floors of the memorial — a replica of Helen’s Tower in Clandeboye, where men of the 36th Ulster Division trained for war — were eventually transformed into a comfortable home for them.
Last night several dignitaries flew in from France to join the scores of guests for the tribute to the Colligans, who were presented with a picture taken at the Ulster Tower last July.
The couple were also recently honoured by the Irish Defence Forces in Dublin.
Last night Phoebe and Teddy said they found it particularly difficult to pack up their belongings and leave the Ulster Tower late last year.
“Some of our friends in France were in tears as we bade them goodbye,” said Teddy.
“And I’m a bit lost back home in Belfast.
“This is the time that we would have been preparing to go back to the Somme for the rest of the year”
Phoebe said that the highlights of her time at the Tower were last year’s royal-endorsed commemorations, and the visits by hundreds of Northern Ireland football fans who were in France for the European Championships. “The respectful atmos- phere was really something,” she said.
“Some of the supporters were crying during a service in front of the Tower.”
The Somme Association will advertise shortly for someone to take over from Phoebe and Teddy at the Ulster Tower later this year.
In the meantime, officials from the Somme Association will take it in turns to man the memorial for a week or two at a time.
So might Phoebe and Teddy Colligan make a return, even for a flying visit?
“Never say never,” laughed Phoebe, who revealed that her secret for success with tea was making it in a teapot, never in a cup.
“And I always used good strong Ulster-made tea — and Tayto crisps were also a must for the visitors.”