WAR BABY
Born 4 November 1938 in Liverpool, Margaret Ann Charlett’s first memories were of wearing a siren suit, her Mickey Mouse gas mask and looking around the room at the sooty faces of her Mum and Grandma as the bombs fell on the Liverpool Docks.

She went to a rather serious Church of England school, a highlight of which was being reprimanded for drinking all the communion wine! On a more aesthetic note, St Edmund's, formerly a private house built for a Liverpool timber merchant, was also responsible for Ann's lifelong love and appreciation of the beauty of carved wood and craftsmanship. Despite wanting to continue her studies, Ann left school to train as a hairdresser; a profession to see her through until she re-trained as a careers adviser in her late thirties. 

SPARKLE
Ann married Iain Halliday and had three children, Simon, Sarah and Charlotte by the time she was thirty. When she met Bill James, the true love of her life, he says it was ‘Ann’s wonderful attitude to life,’ that attracted him and ‘she had a way of making life work for her and everybody around her. Ann had something very special about her; it was the way she just sparkled.’

In the early 1970’s, the family relocated from Liverpool to Bolton where Ann ran a tight ship. Money was scarce but she was canny. It was free and totally great to wear hand me downs and play outside. We had a lovely family home with meals together. Even the tight household budget was a bonus. It meant sacks of bulk-buy potatoes followed by family ‘spud bashing’ marathons around the kitchen table. Washing, peeling, chopping. We then built mini high rise estates of stacked metal trays, layers upon layer of chips in the freezer. Enough to feed an army let alone the five of us.

For Ann, an only child, family was everything and being together meant the world to her. She had the joy of being a mother and a grandmother. She never stopped caring. There wasn't a single moment of doubt that she loved us.

If you’ve seen pictures of her when she was younger, you’ll know Ann was pretty, bright-eyed and stylish. There was 70's Ann with the Jackie O sunglasses, swept back hair and a hint of cheese cloth. The 80's Ann, one of the few that could carry off a home perm with a certain confidence!

As she grew older, Ann’s aim was to do so gracefully but with a touch of eccentricity where possible. We loved her gently subversive sense of mischief. She used to reference the Jenny Joseph poem ‘When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, with a red hat that doesn’t go...’

LOVE AND PRIDE
When Ann was diagnosed with MND in May 2017, she helped us all through as she led by example with amazing courage, dignity, graciousness and humanity.

Sadly, Ann never did get to wear the purple dress with the mismatching hat. But one thing we know for sure is she knew how much we loved her. Hers was a life so very well-loved.