Rachael Best

Listen to the interview

Summary

Based on an interview recorded on 3 December 2009. It reflects the interviewee’s life and memories at that time.

Born in 1937, Rachael Best grew up at Netherton Farm, Brampton Abbotts, where nine men once worked the land. Childhood memories include making butter with her mother and sharing “bait” with the tractor driver Jim. Educated first at Highfield School and later at Elleslie and a finishing school in Switzerland, she trained as a nursery nurse at St Christopher’s College, Tunbridge Wells, before working at St Thomas’s Hospital in London—teaching new doctors, midwives and mothers how to bathe and care for babies.

Her career took her to Rome as a nanny for the British Ambassador’s family, before illness brought her home to Herefordshire, where she later trained as a dental nurse. A chance party introduced her to Michael Best, and they married in 1963, settling at Fern House, Fownhope, which they renovated together.

Rachael’s community life was rich and long-serving. She founded the Fownhope Playgroup in 1968, helped with Brownies, served for years on the WRVS Meals on Wheels team (earning a medal for her service), and became a school governor during the 1990s, fighting to keep cooked lunches for pupils. A gifted flower arranger, she decorated countless weddings, church festivals and funerals, ran the Flower Club’s produce stall, and helped with village celebrations from the Silver Jubilee to the Millennium and Golden Jubilee.

She recalls village life warmly—from decorating “Heart of Oak” sticks with her family to helping at cricket teas and carol services. Through decades of voluntary work, Rachael’s kindness, humour and practical skill touched every corner of Fownhope life, leaving a legacy rooted in care, creativity and community.