Page 57 - br-jan-23
P. 57

January 2023                                                                        January 2023


       MILBORNE MOVIES                                                                                               OBITUARIES


       MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS                                                                       Mary Lewis

       Friday  20th January 2022 at 7.30pm                                                   Mary was born in Watford on New Year’s Eve 1938 to Nan and Tom Mooney
                                                                                             and sister to Pat.  In 1942 the family moved to  West Street Bere Regis to be
       Village  Hall,  The  Causeway,  Milborne  St                                          close to Tom who was based in Bovington, as a tank driving instructor.  In 1944
       Andrew DT11 0JX                                                                       brother Terry was born.

       Doors and bar open 7.00                                                               After several moves in the local area the family moved back to Bere in 1952
                                                                                             to  Green  Close.    Mary  went  to  school  in  Bere  and  then  Bovington.    After
       Tickets  cost  £6,  which  includes  a  drink  or  an                                 leaving school Mary went to work in the Post Office in Bloxworth and then the
       ice-cream                                                                             village weave on  West Street, Bere Regis.   When this closed, Mary set up a

       In partnership with the House of Dior, MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS tells the story of   wool shop in Butt Lane in sister in law Pam’s hair dressing salon.
       a widowed cleaning lady in 1950s London who falls madly in love with a couture        Mary then went to work in Poole at the civic centre for Poole council. During
       Dior  dress,  and  decides  that  she  must  have  one  of  her  own.  After  she  works,   this  time  Mary,  Nan  and  Tom  were  involved  with  the  village  hall  actively
       starves and gambles to raise the funds to pursue her dream, she embarks on an         raising  money  to keep it  going.    Mary  and  Nan  also  ran  the  Monday  night
       adventure to Paris which will change not only her own outlook, but the very future    bingo  from  late  50s  to  mid  80s,  also  being  very  involved  with  the  Autumn
       of the House of Dior.                                                                 Leaves.
       This  is  described  as  a  well-directed  and  well-acted  film  about  an  English   Mary  and  Les  became  a  couple  in  the  early  70s  and  they  married  in  this
       charwoman who becomes besotted with a Dior dress, and eventually manages              church  on  8   September  1973.    Exactly  a  year  and  a  day  later  Garry  was
                                                                                                        th
       to cobble up the funds to go to the House of Dior in Paris to buy one. But a Dior     born and after moving from 55 West Street Mary, Les and Garry moved to 7
       dress is not something she can buy off-the-rack, and so Mrs Harris has time for side   Southbrook in 1976.  Garry recalls good times were had here with local friends
       adventures.  The  film  is  well-directed  and  well-acted,  and  allegedly  the  re-  playing  football  or  cricket  in  the  front  garden  with  many  a  broken  window
       creations of Dior are authentic.                                                      due  to a  stray ball and  Mary  supplying  the drinks and  ice cream.   If it  was
                                                                                             raining it would be snooker in the living room on a 6ft x 3ft table.
       OVER THE HILL       JANUARY 2023                                                      Holidays  were  always  planned  around  horse  racing  fixtures  at  Salisbury  or
                                                                                             Newbury with Mary always betting on Willie Carson the jockey.  It was in the
                                                                                             mid 90s Mary suffered a heart attack and underwent a triple heart bypass in
       I can’t believe what I have just typed as a heading  for this article. Is the year 2023   Southampton.    Mary  still  loved  her  bingo  and  would  regularly  attend  the
       here with us now? Well it will be when you read this.  And what a strange year it     Legion  or  Wareham  bingos.    In  2009  Les  sadly  passed  away  and  Mary
       has been. Climate Change has really been a big part of happenings of last year        continued living in Southbrook.
       as has the war in Ukraine but I am sure you also have your points to make on this     Mary told many people one her happiest days ever
       subject.                                                                              was  attending  Garry  and  Sarah’s  wedding  in  2013
       However I would firstly like to look at the changes that the climate has had on our   but  a  better  one  was  on  the  horizon  when  her  first
       lives. Temperatures have been higher than normal throughout the year and when         grandchild  Charley was  born in 2016 and  Mary  was
       autumn came and the countryside should have been preparing for winter, with           over  the  moon  loving  her  afternoons  with  Charley
       all our deciduous trees leaves changing colour and starting to fall.  Was this the    visiting her or Mary going to see Charley.
       case though? No it was not. In fact many trees, including the oaks, beech, ash,       Mary  had  by  now  moved  after  42  years  in
       hazel  and  hawthorn  showing  no  real  intention  of  changing  the  colour  of    their   Southbrook to 2 Elder Road.  Garry recalled going to
       leaves or removing all their foliage until the really cold spell in mid December.


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