Wendy Bird

"A Little Lane, the brook runs close beside 
And spangles in the sunshine while the fish glide swiftly by And hedges leafing with the green spring tide
From out their greenery the old birds fly 
And chirp and whistle in the morning sun
The pilewort glitters ‘neath the pale blue sky 
The little robin has its nest begun 
And grass green linnets round the bushes fly
How Mild the Spring Comes in;"

(Excerpt from On a Lane in Spring, by John Clare)

Obituary

Wendy Bird died peacefully in her sleep after a short illness on 29th September 2025, aged 91. Beloved and missed by family and friends. Wendy's grave is beside John in Euston Churchyard. A celebration of her life will take place next year in Devon, her childhood home. Donations, if desired in memory of Wendy to Barnardo's.

Summary of her life

Wendy was born in Madras, India, as it was then called; present day Chennai. The family moved back to England when she was 4. She spent the next 13 years running wild in her beloved Devon (when not at boarding school). When she was 17, the family moved to the Priory Waterfowl Farm in Ixworth, Suffolk, and she learned how to look after and show ornamental waterfowl, milk a cow, and became and excellent duck plucker!  

She and John met at the local badminton club, and they married and moved into Grange Farm, Euston in 1956. Soon she had three young daughters "the place needed children", she said. As well as bringing us up fairly single-handedly, she was active on the farm; she only narrowly avoided having to get up to milk the cow on the day Belinda was born, because she was the only one who knew how (but they managed somehow)! Later she became very involved at lambing time becoming expert at "fishing out" lambs during difficult labours. 

When the Comprehensive school system was introduced, she was horrified at the (lack of) provision for brighter children which affected first Jen and then Amanda at Ixworth Secondary Modern turned Middle School. She promptly became a parent governor and this led to over 40 years of voluntary work as a Governor and then Chair of Governors at both Ixworth and Thurston Schools. Teachers and fellow Governors have told us how supportive and encouraging she was to them all.

As Belinda, Jen and Amanda grew, a lot of sporting and other extracurricular activities appeared. Wendy was always very supportive and a dedicated taxi driver for the above, with sport taking us all over the country. 

In amongst all of this, the computer age arrived and, like John, Wendy was fascinated and wanted to be part of it. It started with computerised lambing records and morphed, with John, into going out to businesses to train employees to use Word Processing and Accounting software.

Wendy loved propagating plants; she grew a good selection of vegetables and somehow produced spectacular flower displays in the poor soil conditions in the garden at Grange Farm. There were also poultry and an assortment of pets and John said of her "she's always a-rearing something!" She did have nightmares about our guinea pigs over-running the place and to be fair this was a legitimate worry. Her love of gardening continued into the years at the Old Stackyard, and she would spend as much time out in the garden as she was able.

Above all, family was incredibly important to Wendy, and Wendy was incredibly important to the family. She was the glue which held us together, always keeping in touch with everyone, near and far. Many will have memories of Christmas and other important family gatherings at Grange Farm and then The Old Stackyard.

Timeline

Gallery

Memory wall

Family tree

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Wendy Bird

Celebration of Wendy's life
14th - 21st Sept