Mrs Phyliss Batchelor worked for Jempson’s in the sixties and seventies and although she was well-liked and respected she also ruled with a firm hand and wanted things to be done correctly.
She died in Australia in March 2024 aged one-hundred-and-six. She dedicated herself for many years to the Jempson’s store in Peasmarsh. In the main photo she is seen with Mr Harold Jempson in the mid-seventies. Her job was to collate orders for the mobile vans which used to deliver to the local villages daily. Note in the photo the price of food: garden peas 6p, a can of mixed vegetables 4.5p – how times have changed. Also in evidence in the photo are Mr Harold Jempson and Michael Bailey on the checkout.
When her death was announced there were many comments on Facebook posting about “the good old days” and people were transported back to growing up and visiting the store which was, of course, much smaller in those days.
Phyllis retired and went to live with her son in Australia in 1982. Her grandson writes fondly of her: “She has always been a great knitter and gardener and enjoyed doing both. She was also a great cook and enjoyed making her own jams, marmalade and slices. She was very fit and able and only moved out of her own home and into the nursing home in her late nineties. At an afternoon tea celebration for her one-hundredth birthday she stood and made a speech: not many centenarians can stand, let alone make a speech.
“What really stopped her was Covid and lockdowns. Prior that she used to enjoy walking around her nursing home, perhaps taking the newspaper with her and having a rest half-way to sit and read the paper. When the lockdowns were imposed she was basically confined to her room and was not able to exercise and so lost the ability to walk. Her mental state also deteriorated due to having very little contact with other people. She would happily “talk” to others by herself in her own little world. From what we can gather she was often back in her days in Peasmarsh or Wittersham.
“She had no pain but was ready to die as she had outlived all her friends and family that she grew up with. To us it is the end of an era.”
Image Credits: Jempson's archives , Jempson's Archives .