Grandma

Following Grandma's funeral on Monday I just wanted to keep a note of her life from words said during her funeral. There are photo is the post here

Eleanor Amy Payne

Nellie was born Eleanor Amy Smith in Islington on 12th September 1915 during the First World War.  She had an older brother Henry and a cousin Eileen who she was very close to.  She helped to look after Eileen when she was a child as Eileen was 10 years younger than her.

Nellie had various jobs when she left school; she had a spell of working in a baby’s bonnet factory; she worked for the Black Cat Cigarette Company, then worked in a perfume factor with her mother Isabel and her Auntie Nell, Eileen’s mum.  From there she went to work as a sorter in the Post Office, and was still working there when another world war broke out in 1939.  She was just 24 years old when she became an air raid warden – dangerous work which meant she had to go out in the blackout at night time to do her duties.

She married John Binns, a butcher, during the war.  He was serving as a sergeant in the Desert Rats, 7th Division.  They were married in the Parish Church of St. Pauls and had the wedding reception in her Cousin Eileen’s house in Buckingham Road, Islington.  They started their married life living with Nellie’s parents in Wall Street, Islington, which wasn’t an unusual start to married life back then.  Nellie was a keen piano player at the time and her mother has bought her a piano for £59 19s and 6d – that’s 5 pence short of £60 in today’s money.  The piano was needed for the wedding reception, so they had to have it moved from Wall Street to Buckingham Road and back again for the princely sum of £1.  That piano is still in the family and regularly played by the children and grandchildren.

In 1949, John was offered a better job as a butcher in Clacton-on-Sea, so he and Nellie and their baby David moved to St. Mary’s Road.  Nellie went to work in the Kia-ora drinks factory in the same road and also did a part-time letter sorting job at the post office at Christmas time.  Their second child, Carol, was born in Clacton.  Nellie stayed in touch with her cousin Eileen and her family; her daughter Tricia always called her Auntie Nellie.

Sadly, John died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 52, in 1964, and Nellie became a widow.  She started work at Marks and Spencers as a cleaner and worked her way up to be a Sales Assistant by the time she was due to retire at the age of 60.  She hadn’t really wanted to retire but she had no choice in the matter – it was company policy then.

She married Frank Payne in 1976, but was sadly widowed again in 1987.  Nellie was known for her kindness and cheerfulness, and she and Frank, made a good team.  They enjoyed ballroom dancing and always went to the Conservative Club on a Saturday night to “trip the light fantastic”.  Frank always wanted to whirl her round the floor to a lively quickstep.

Nellie always cycled everywhere until she was in her 70s but unfortunately her eyesight began to fail and she was unable to cycle as she used to.

She helped her daughter Carol, who lived just round the corner, to bring up her children and was always there for her grandchildren, Emma and Matthew.  She was always very fond of David and Jenny’s children, Kerry and Nikki who she used to look after sometimes, and she looked forward to them visiting most Sundays.  Nellie loved to spoil her grandchildren; she was generous with her time and money and never told them off.  They were always welcome at Nellies, and she would give them their dinner, and there was always enough to feed their friends too, if they came round.  Her grandchildren now have children of their own; Lottie, Heidi, Joplin and Eden.

Nellie managed to carry on living at home until she was 94 years old, with the help of her family.  David and Carol lived just at the end of her garden, so it was only a short walk to see if she was okay.  Sadly, the day came when she became too frail to live on her own and moved to Cherryleas Residential Home in 2010, and they looked after her until she died.

Here are my memories of her:-


Myself and my sister Nikki have put together a few of our favourite memories we would like to share with you..

I have so many memories of Grandma. She always took great care in her appearance and I definitely saw her a glamourous grandmother - it wasn't Christmas without Grandma in one of her festive brooches! I remember as a child with great excitement being allowed to look in her jewellery box. I was just as excited about being allowed to rifle through her button box with all it's treasures inside!
What I will remember most for I think was the fantastic way she used to tell stories about events in her life. She used to describe so much detail in the story it put such a clear picture in your head about what had happened. One particular story that stands out was on the morning of her wedding day having to whitewash the front step before being allowed to get into her dress! Jobs needed to be done in those days whether you were getting married that day or not!  Another fantastic story involved the day a doodle bug landed in her street in London. She heard the engine cut out which meant it was going to land and go off, so she opened her front door to see if she could see where it had landed. As she did the blast went off blowing her from the front door backwards through the passage to find herself sitting by the back door! She was pregnant with my dad at the time so that explains a lot!

Another great story was when she came to see either myself or my sister in Les Miserables - playing at that time at the Palace Theatre. Her and Grandpa asked a helpful policeman the way to the 'Palace' - they were over half way up the Mall before they realised he had sent them on their way to see the Queen! Dad says they were half frozen when he found them and took over an hour and lots of coffees to thaw them out before the show! She did actually meet the Queen a few years later when Her Majesty visited Clacton. Apparently the Queen was over the other side of the field and suddenly spotted a child standing right next to Grandma with a posy of flowers and so came over and Grandma shook her hand!

She was definitely up for anything and enjoyed numerous holidays around the world, including going to Disney in her 80s; and having a tequila slammer on her 90th birthday!

She was a great fun lady with many a tale to tell and adventure to be had, and will be greatly missed by all lucky enough to know her.

Emma and Mathew’s said a poem together:-

Look for me in Rainbows
Time for me to go now, I won't say goodbye;
Look for me in rainbows, way up in the sky.
In the morning sunrise when all the world is new,
Just look for me and love me, as you know I loved you.
Time for me to leave you, I won't say goodbye;
Look for me in clouds, breezing slowly by .
In the evening sunset, when all the world is through,
Just look for me and love me, and I'll be close to you.
Time for us to part now, we won't say goodbye;
Look for me in flowers, stretching, reaching high.
Every waking moment, and all your whole life through
Just look for me and love me, as you know I loved you.
So now you leave us Grandma, I won't say goodbye;
I’ll look for you in memories, and smile instead of cry .
The caring hugs you gave us, the sayings, songs and rhymes,
Your stories, love and patience, your generosity and time.
It won't be forever, the day will come and then
We’ll laugh just like we used to, when we meet again.

And here is the music that was played:-

“Stardust” Henry Mancini
“Young at Heart”, Frankie Vaughan
“Back In My childhood Days”, Max Bygraves