Cissie Terrey

Cissie Terrey is a true Helmdon girl. She was born at the ‘Lilacs’ on 1st October 1919. Sadly her mother died just 6 weeks later and Cissie’s father’s sister came to look after Cissie, her brother and her two sisters. She was widely known as ‘Aunt Pat’.

Cissie records her early life as being blissful. She attended the village primary school when it was a Church of England School and then later Brackley High School for Girls. Her father was a sheep and cattle dealer and she spent many happy hours working with the animals. She had her own donkey and cart and would often shepherd the sheep on her pony not only across the fields but also through the streets of Helmdon too. Cycling was also a necessary pre-occupation of Cissie’s as indeed, this was her only means of getting to the girls’ school in Brackley whatever the weather!

Cissie left school at the age of 16 and turned her energies to working at home only to find that within a few years Britain was again at war. She joined the A.R.P. (Air Raid Precautions) proving herself to be a real asset by quickly gaining her badge and First Aid certificate.

As for many of her generation, the next six years were dramatically to change folks’ way of life and to fashion their outlook. Although there were great hardships that had to be endured, there were also times which were unforgettable. Cissie’s experience was no exception. She talks particularly of the Canadian soldiers, the Prisoner of War camp at Sulgrave, and the Home Guard.

A contingency of young Canadian soldiers on manoeuvres in Helmdon must have set any young girl’s heart a flutter and clearly Cissie was no exception. Having milked the Jersey cows it was seemingly necessary to return home with her full pail of milk via the stationed Canadian tanks. As Cissie passed by, the men held out their mugs, which she duly filled and soon her bucket was empty, as was the cake tin that she had by chance, taken with her!

Food again featured in another adventure. This time with German soldiers at the Prisoner of War camp at Sulgrave. Cissie discovered that they had a great liking for Yorkshire puddings and so she regularly baked particularly large puddings for them. She was complimentary about how hard working they were but found it disconcerting when they talked amongst themselves in German. What were they plotting?

The rail line through Helmdon was a key one during the war being a direct route for moving ammunitions and so it was the responsibility of the Home Guard to patrol the viaduct. Cissie particularly remembers the comradeship of these men and also the sad occasion when she with them, and others, watched Coventry burning from the top of one of their fields.

After the war life was to change again. Sadly her father died in 1947 but then Cissie met George and she was married in 1948. A few years later she was blessed by the birth of her two children, Celia in 1951 and Julia in 1954.

To Cissie family was everything. Celia and Julia have very fond memories of the times they have spent with their mother with often the simplest of activities highlighting the deepest of affections.

Celia speaks of the lovely days out and holidays they have enjoyed together, the visiting of garden centes and the choosing of bedding plans. Craft Fairs too were a much-loved pastime of Cissie, with Woburn being a particular favourite because of her eagerness to see the wolves, lions and tigers.

Celia reminds us of how much Cissie was an animal lover. Perhaps her fondness for donkeys can be traced back to her childhood days and that donkey and cart. Whatever the reason, Cissie maintained a desire to support the Donkey Sanctuary ever since her visit to Sidmouth many years ago. Anyone who has visited her house in Church Street cannot have failed to have seen the treasured photograph of Cissie with Acorn, a donkey at the sanctuary. Dogs and cats too have also provided great companionship for Cissie throughout her life and not least in latter years. It was undoubtedly a great comfort to Cissie to have Max at her bedside at Katherine House a few days ago licking her hand.

For many, Christmas is a time when the family comes together. This was a special time for Cissie too and so getting the decorations right was important, as Celia will tell you. Cissie would help chose the decorations and the tree and provide clear guidance on exactly how the tree should be adorned. Baubles and lights wrongly placed would be highlighted, as would misplaced tinsel. George Terrey was renowned for his expertise in beautifully decorating the family home at the Lilacs to a standard that Celia never felt she could attain.

Julia, like Celia, refers to mum’s enjoyment of watching television. Cissie was a keen sportwoman but not everyone would be tuned into darts and snooker at her age. She also keenly followed the cricket on TV. However when Wimbledon Fortnight was on the box, Cissie was glued to the screen. I have heard it reported that she was indeed a pretty mean tennis player herself in her younger days. Indeed I believe there may well be people here who have missed returning one of Cissie’s volleys! The egg-and-spoon race too was one of her sporting accomplishments, as Julia will tell adding much to the childhoood pride she had in her mother. If however you thought it was simply sport that interested Cissie, you would be wrong. She was an avid watcher of the soaps and believe it or not, the programme X Factor too.

Both Celia and Julia use many affectionate words in tribute to their mother. The importance of family is often used. The warmth in which Malcolm, Julia’s husband, was welcomed into the Terrey family as the son Cissie never had, is illustrative of this. Cissie’s nursing of George during the last days of his life, and the strength to do the same again during Celia’s long illness in 1995 and Julia’s in 2004 are examples of her caring and selfless nature. Both girls also found their mother’s encouragement to do things that they otherwise may not have done a great support to them. Both also speak of her sense of fun and the twinkle in her smile.

I saw that twinkle too on the many occasions that I took monthly Home Communion to her but ‘Oh Boy’ it was some job to persuade her to let me come; I first knew Cissie some years before I became the Rector as a regular attendee at 8am 1662 Holy Communion, which sadly due to ill health she found increasingly difficult to sustain some five years ago. Home Communion seemed to be the obvious answer but in spite of all my charm and persuasion my entreaties were declined until one Remembrance Sunday, as Cissie was sitting in Celia’s car looking on, I went over to speak to her and before I knew it I found myself telling Cissie that I would see her the next first Monday in the month at 11 am for Home Communion taking no dissent for an answer. I shall never forget the first occasion that I visited. This lady tried desperately to get on her knees but simply couldn’t stand so she lent forward and put her hands together to pray. She didn’t need the service sheet. She knew every word. She often expressed concern that she was a nuisance to me. Nothing could have been further from th truth. It was a joy always and my Christmas Day will not be the same this year. There will be no Cissie to celebrate Home Communion with at midday before I tuck into my turkey.

Maybe her nephew, Mervyn, also saw that twinkle as well but perhaps in a rather different form. He recalls the time when he, as a small boy, was a neighbour to his aunt when she lived at the Lilacs. Mervyn’s mother, Connie Humphreys, and Cissie both kept chickens in coops in adjacent fields. It was Mervyn’s job to collect the eggs. However, there was a ram in Connie’s field and Mervyn was anxious about its horns infliciting damage to his bottom! It should not however have been the ram’s horns that he feared but rather Cissie’s wooden spoon which his aunt brandished at him as she chased him around the field when she found him taking, what he thought was the safer option, the eggs from Cissie’s chicken coop instead of his mum’s. Mervyn considered he had done rather well to have arrived home safely with only three broken eggs only to find he was to receive a spanking from his mother. On another occasion a particularly large and juicy crop of gooseberries had caught Mervyn’s eye and Aunt Pat had said that he could gather his fill. However, his access was via Aunt Cissie’s garden. Clearly in his enthusiasm Mervyn had trampled carelessly across Cissie’s well-tilled patch for certainly that’s what the resulting severe telling off from Cissie left him in no doubt about!

Here is a woman sho loved her near and extended family very much and spoke of her daughters with immense pride. She was full of admiration for all they had done not perhaps realising that it was indeed her motivation, encouragment and generosity that gave them strength. But let me finish with their own words about their mum. “We will remember her lovely smile, her warmth and selflessness. She gave so much, asking for nothing in return. Mum was wise, active and a very generous person who would help anyone out when they needed it. A truly wonderful lady who will remain for ever in our hearts.”

Celia Terrey and Julia Wilkins

Read at the funeral service by the Revd Will Adams