of roses. A move to the Midlands opened up fresh musical Clare Mackney (née Humphreys, 1975) opportunities. She took a degree at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, joined the National Saxophone Choir of Great When Clare came up to Somerville Britain, taught flute and sax at Lichfield Cathedral School and to read Geography, it became enjoyed reviewing for the Birmingham Post. quickly apparent that she was not It was, however, the final move to Suffolk in 2009, which one to follow the herd, drinking brought Clare the greatest satisfaction. Her house in Beccles lapsang souchong rather than PG was soon filled with colour and light, books and pictures, Tips and eschewing Led Zeppelin ceramics and rugs – and even a life-size baby hippo named for Ella and Louis. With a work Felicity, crafted in stainless steel by a nephew! This home ethic second to none, she was up became a magnet for friends and family, and anyone else at the crack of dawn, spending full needing a sympathetic ear, or simply a favour. Clare was a days at the School of Geography CLARE MACKNEY great listener and an astute judge of character, wise but never – affectionately known as SOG hectoring – not to mention a legendary baker of flapjack and – before tramping across Port Meadow, regardless of bad brownies. Despite many chronic health conditions –diabetes, weather, with her less than enthusiastic chums in tow. She kidney and heart problems and hearing loss – Clare was loved talking late into the night, with tea (or gin, when funds tireless in her dedication to the community. She founded allowed) about life, faith, love, books, music, dogs vs cats, plans a local orchestra, now the Waveney Concert Band, and a and prospects. Our bonds of friendship would hold fast until her handbell ringing group, joined the NWR, and made significant untimely death in July 2024. contributions to the Beccles Town Plan and the work of the Clare was born in Cropredy, Oxfordshire, but it was in South River Waveney Trust. Wales, at Newport Bettws Comprehensive School that her twin In 2021 Clare’s kidneys failed. Despite a gruelling programme passions for music and geography were kindled. She returned of dialysis, she made the most of her time there, reading, to Wales after Somerville, gaining a masters in town planning composing witty emails, and planning the next stage of her at Cardiff University and joining the Newport Choral Society, garden. Her concern for others, and her equanimity in the face where she met her future husband, Andy. They married in of worsening health, were remarkable, but unsurprising. She 1981, living briefly in London before settling in Sussex. Clare died peacefully with Andy at her side. Her humanist funeral began her career in planning, first with Berwin Leighton, then was simple and dignified, attended by over a hundred people Nathaniel Lichfield, where her probing intellect, eye for detail, who loved her dearly, including two Somerville friends, one in and first-rate skills as a writer were used to the full. person, the other via a live link, in the USA. Such a good life, and It was in Sussex that Clare created her first garden, in a space so well lived. deemed ‘unnecessarily long’ by a disapproving aunt. Clare Sylvia Cooper (Clift, 1975), Stroud, Gloucestershire turned it into an idyll, with cottage-style planting and cascades Karen Rose OSB (1975), St Benedict’s Monastery, Minnesota 50