Tributes to the matriarch who will be sadly missed

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Liz Hunter – matriarch of Ayr’s Abbotsford Hotel and especially in an era when it was the patriarch of its hospitality peers.

Vivacious, friendly and as endlessly helpful and she was smiling – she will be sadly missed. My thoughts are with her husband Allan and their family, including sons Mark, Paul, Jason and Julian.

Allan and Liz took over the Abbotsford in 1966 and stamped their personalities on its staff and service.

Most evenings, their tea time regulars looked like a joint sitting of Ayr Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club. Ayr’s movers and shakers drank at the “Abbo”. For those of us of a certain age, it was their popular disco nights that brought them a whole new clientele of movers and shakers! In the early 1970’s, I was a student and part-time barman at the Gartferry Hotel – closing at 10pm – while the Abbotsford’s “supper licence” gave them extra hours. We bolted up the road after lock-up. Allan was usually on the door – and appreciated that we were bar staff who had just finished our shifts. He always managed to squeeze us in! One night, I’d left my jacket and turned back to the hotel only to find the DJ packing his gear and Liz surrounded by tables of empty glasses. Having experienced the same many times, I offered to help and my reward was a late beer and ten minutes of Liz’s company. She told me that her day was not bound by any clocks – it started with the earliest golfer’s breakfast and ended with a resident’s late last drink.

“Stay away from this business!” she laughed.Much later, I ignored her advice and got into “this business” at the Twa Dugs. Allan and Liz were among the first to drop in and wish me well.

Most recently, the Hunters supported my election campaign – and offered to place my leaflets in the hotel.

I can only imagine Allan’s sadness. But I hope he finds consolation in the long and memorable years he had with a most wonderful woman.