Today Gillian and I were entertained to a delightful morning with a cup of coffee and lots of smiles and chat from a special lady, who is nearly 102 years young, Yvonne Kinch In her comfortable sitting room overlooking her beautiful and much loved garden, surrounded by photos of her family, Yvonne told us a little about her long and busy life.
Her sons Peter and Martin, their wives and families their children and the great grandchildren seemed to be smiling down on her. She is entertained to lunch each Saturday and Sunday at the home of one or other of her sons.What strikes you most about Yvonne is her interest in people and in the local and not so local events of the world. She has been a member of the UTRNTA for many years and attends the lunch and talks regularly and enjoys the time with friends of many years.She grew up in Ashton Keynes at Manor Farm. She spent hours outdoors and loved the life on the farm. There was no electricity and water was drawn from the well and here there was a wry smile as she told us about the outdoor privy!Yvonne of course had a pony and tells the tale that after a good run she seemed to be a little lost but some kindly folks put the pony in the trailer and took her safely home. She had been told that if she loosened the reins the pony would find its own way! She was welcomed back after her adventure and taken by the nanny to her least favourite meal of boiled eggs.Later on the family moved to South Cerney to another farm which afforded them the luxury of electricity and running water.She remembers the excitement of seeing a biplane over the farm, the first plane that she had ever seen. It seemed wonderful to her that such a thing could soar above her in the blue sky.At school in Cirencester she discovered her love of tennis and was invited to play at the local club if ever there was a shortage of players, regardless of her young age. She won the tennis cup at school three times and apparently was allowed to keep it as the rule
was that if you won three times the cup was yours. Tennis remained a part of her life until what many would call “old age” and when she moved to Lechlade she played several days of the week and loved the friendship and activity of the local club. Yvonne told us that she was a good runner and played the ball with skill rather than with great force.
When she left school, she worked in the bank and despite being in a reserved occupation she entered the WAAF and trained in Morecombe and this of course involved “square bashing” but later she went up in the bomber aircraft as the pilots were training and she measured the accuracy of their target drops on Wandsworth Common.
Yvonne had always driven the small tractors on the farm and so cars were no problem to her and she never took a driving test, never had an accident and still drives short distances today!At the end of the war Yvonne married Roy and they moved to Buscot Wick Farm. Shortly after this their first son Peter was born. Suddenly there were men and the baby and chickens to feed and eggs to collect and milk to carry in buckets with a yoke to the churn at the gate. The farm house had to be kept in good shape and so life was very busy. Later on Martin was born and life carried on at the farm. As the children grew they also developed an interest in tennis and they were given permission to make a grass court at the farm which gave them all time to relax after the busy farm days.
Eventually Roy and Yvonne moved to their Lechlade home where they only had a few years before Roy died.Our local UTRNTA group presented her with a basket of goodies and a card from the country market on her 100th birthday. Yvonne showed us proudly the 100th birthday card from her HM the Queen. She feels that royalty is a very important part of our country and confesses a fondness for Prince Harry although she said with a smile that he is a rather naughty boy.
Long may she continue, she provides an example to us all
Chris Beer
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