Retired now from her work at Newmarket Hospital, she spends one day a week as a voluntary helper at the St. Nicholas Hospice in Bury St. Edmunds.

Jean enjoys gardening, knitting, needlework, keep fit sessions at Haverhill, singing in the choir at church and in the Village Voices Choir. She is treasurer of the Carpet Bowls Club and also of Thurlow W.I., a position she has held for 17 years. She is a long time member of the W.I. and also of St. Peter’s P.C.C. Jean finds Thurlow a safe place to live and feels she belongs (at last).

She has seen lots of changes in the village, the loss of shop and post office in Little Thurlow, the builders yard of E. J. Sargent going out of business, as has the bakers and one of the public houses. The old almshouses have also been sold and converted into a single house. The tenant farmers have all gone and their farms are incorporated into the Thurlow estate. No one keeps chickens in their back yards now and most people work out of the village. This is all very different from when they arrived.