Extraordinary
MY MUM MARGARET
OUR Mum was born into a Derbyshire farming family, the Carringtons. When she was eight, her mother died of cancer and at 13 she had to leave school to run the house and care for her father, two brothers and sister. In an era when there were no mod cons or domestic appliances, she single-handedly did the cleaning, laundry and cooked for everyone, including the farm workers. From that young age and for the rest of her life, she worked constantly, looking after others. She kept the whole family together, regularly visiting her elderly relatives. During World War II, when meat was rationed, her father said: ‘Margaret, give them pudding first to fill them up and then they won’t need much meat.’ ‘Pudding first’ was carried on long after she married my father, Fred Goodwin, in 1952. But when friends came round for tea they couldn’t get over being served a topsy-turvy meal, so Mum returned to serving the meat course first. My parents had been married for two years when they took on a council smallholding in Rosliston, Derbyshire. Life was hard and they
had to work seven days a week. Mum would collect and clean the eggs, feed the calves and, daily, cook a full roast dinner on a cooker with only one ring, a hotplate and small oven. Somehow she managed to serve up Christmas dinner with all the trimmings for eight. She made sure my sister Rachel and I were always immaculately dressed — her darning skills were exceptional! She loved to knit hats, jumpers and gloves. Her life revolved around her family and the farm. A rare day out would be a trip to an agricultural show to see the various animals and the latest farm machinery. Farming was a family endeavour: Rachel and I would help out, even after we had left home. Dad only had two days off in his working life — to attend our weddings. My parents farmed until they retired. When Dad developed dementia, Mum looked after him until he died in 2014. She helped bring up her four grandchildren — playing shop, cooking and building toy farmyards with them for hours — and loved spending time with her three greatgrandchildren. Our Mum had the patience of a saint and was always there for us. Honestly, my sister and I had the best upbringing any children could have wished for, which was all down to Mum.
MARGARET SYBIL GOODWIN, born December 22, 1926; died January 17, 2018, aged 91.