This tribute is on behalf of us all at the Wandle Industrial Museum and from me personally. I have only known Mary for about 11 years and therefore never knew her “ in her prime.” Her generous contributions to the museum are inestimable. The block printing workshops we now offer to schools have been the success they are due to the developments Mary introduced i.e. using smaller blocks for smaller hands thus saving the original blocks from further wear and tear, and rolling up fabric squares in kitchen roll so they could be taken away immediately rather than being pegged out to dry. All the materials and equipment she also donated and assembled, and provided background information on the techniques, evolution of the designs, and details of the actual patterns relating to the Morris and Liberty fabrics.
She ensured that the fabrics and blocks were maintained and stored in the correct way and donated many expensive “coffee table” type books .
She put the museum on the map by her contacts with the archivists at Liberty’s and the William Morris Gallery and even the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
Although her presence in the museum was not very frequent, she was possibly our original “ outreach worker”, beavering away behind the scenes. As Membership Secretary she ensured all current volunteers got a birthday card, a very personal touch which we have attempted ( not always successfully ) to continue and acted as a sort of early form of social media.
Every year she created lavender bags for us to sell from locally sourced cuttings and created the display on dyes and dyeing using her professional knowledge.
Every AGM, volunteer and Christmas lunches and Summer Exhibition openings were catered for by Mary, with a cake depicting something topical, and a spare for the Mayor for the annual exhibition. There may not now be any incentive for them to turn up! She set a standard far too high for us to achieve. Her culinary skills also went into creating a sample of ancient bread to demonstrate the output of the original watermills. We still have this and it now resembles a large rusk.
I personally got to know Mary better when she invited me to help with the block printing sessions at the Chapter House. What she failed to tell me, or maybe I didn’t take seriously enough was the fact that in order to achieve sufficient light in the corner required the door to remain open allowing howling gales in to freeze us in our boots and blow the fabric displays and drying prints all over the place. One particularly inclement Easter weekend, 2 heaters were obtained for Mary as she was unable to stand for long periods, and suddenly the whole power cut out.
It was Mary whose concern to keep us all warm has resulted in several beautiful sweaters- she knew that waiting for half an hour at a freezing Edinburgh bus stop has its limits, and many a time we blessed her for her forethought. Wearing a “Mary” will now go down in the annals.
It was also Mary who “rescued” a sweater that I had been knitting during my Brighton to London commutes, but which I had abandoned half finished and left for about 20 years. She worked out where I had got to and completed it.
It was Mary who relieved us of several pounds of damsons every year and did things with them which were well beyond the imagination of many.
It was also Mary who persuaded me to try my hand at making my own marmalade, but needless to say my efforts were kept strictly unpublicised.
It was also Mary with whom I discussed garden produce excess and the subject of chutneys came up. Some of her back catalogue of recipes had been used by the authors of “Chutneys, Pickles, and Relishes”, who paid tribute to (I quote)
“the fertile mind and active kitchen of Mary Hart “.
It has to be said that this fertile mind was frequently over-active. Many a phone call with a “Me Here” was followed by a wacky idea formed in the wee small hours which she wanted to run past me. Yes, of course they were often crazy, but they usually worked - rolling up the prints for example.
Many a discussion was about books and reading. Mary was a voracious reader and recommended many authors to me whom I would not necessarily have considered. One of these was Jilly Cooper, whose name came up in conversation after a discussion about Barnes and Putney Commons. Mary told me that her mother had a cameo mention in Jilly’s book “The Common Years” and persuaded me to borrow that, and subsequently a few of Jilly’s famous Rutshire series.
I can honestly say I have never known such a generous lady. Even our cat received Christmas presents from her ( but not a sweater !! ) . I wish I had known her earlier but I have at least some wonderful memories.
Our condolences to Nicholas and all the family. As Mary would say after signing off her phone calls – goodbye my friend.