Meg was brought up in the English Potteries district but after some stays in France in her youth attended Manchester University where she met Mike, her future husband and life-long partner. She studied Social Administration, gaining a degree and graduating in 1968. In 1971, she moved to Leicester with her husband and young son, Martin, and it was not long before she started a part-time teaching career at Leicester Polytechnic, later to become De Montfort University. She particularly enjoyed teaching sociology to Health Visitor students with whom she had an excellent relationship. Vacations at this time were generally held in the English Lake District particularly in and about Keswick and together with son and husband often ascended some of the highest Lake District peaks. Eventually her ashes will be mingled with those of her husband and sprinkled in Derwentwater, one of the loveliest of the English Lakes which she had often walked around and gazed at from nearby peaks. Later she gained a post where her prime responsibility was to place first Business Studies and latterly Public Administration students in paid employment for what was then known as 'sandwich' degrees. At this post, she excelled becoming (in my partisan view) one of the most successful tutors in this role in the country. She assiduously prepared students for the competitive interviews which they had to undertake and thus launched hundreds of students into successful careers over her fourteen years in this role. But her undoubted linguistic skills were to come to the fore when she was given the responsibility for organising international placements as part of the ERASMUS program. Meg had studied Spanish in her school 6th form but rapidly built upon the 'A'level she acquired in Latin to develop a deep affection and facility in the Spanish language. Two of the first ERASMUS students who came from Madrid Complutense University studied in Leicester and they have subsequently become some of our deepest lifelong friends, both acquiring positions of seniority in Spanish universities. One of them is here today to pay particular tribute to her former tutor and mentor. I think it is true to say that Meg's happiest years were spent either in international conferences which she attended as part of the ERASMUS program or visiting various parts of Spain which she visited at least twice a year. In fact, I recently discovered a card signed by all the members of an international conference in a variety of languages. The sentiments expressed were generally of the type 'We miss you, Meg' and were poignant in the extreme. This recently discovered memento will remain as as a treasured possession and a constant reminder of the deep impact Meg made upon her fellow conference participants. One of her finest achievements was a presentation to an international conference in Seville in what (after English and French) was actually her third language.
A long running spinal injury forced Meg's premature retirement in 1994 and she endured a succession of health problems generally without complaint but this did not prevent frequent visits to Spain before COVID brought this to an abrupt halt. In her declining years, she enjoyed regular walks to our local park and then, utilising a wheelchair, to various neighbouring towns. Even when the dementia was taking its toll, Meg was pushed in a wheelchair down into Bromsgrove where she could meet with friends. In her final months, she enjoyed excellent relationships with her young carers and they with her. To add to her comfort, they wrapped her in a blanket, deep blue on one side and white on the other which looked as though it had been requisitioned from the House of Lords (which she had actually visited with her husband for a dinner) and they used to call her 'Queen Meg'. She enjoyed this soubriquet and she will remain 'Queen Meg' in our hearts forever.