Kath Watkins

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Summary

Based on an interview recorded on 18 February 2019. It reflects the interviewee’s life and memories at that time.

Born in 1935 in the small Herefordshire village of Almeley, Kath Watkins grew up on a family farm surrounded by open fields and good humour. Her childhood was shaped by wartime evacuees, outdoor adventures, and a deep love of village life. Though illness kept her home for stretches of time, she remembers it as a happy place — candlelit evenings, games of tennis against the shed wall, and the steady kindness of neighbours.

After school at Lady Hawkins’ in Kington, Kath worked for Hereford City Council before setting off into the wider world — first as a farm secretary in Essex, then to New Zealand as a dairy tester and later a teacher. She travelled by ship through the Panama Canal, learned to milk cows, drive a horse and cart, and embraced every opportunity that came her way. “I hadn’t had a proper home,” she said, “so I made one wherever I went.”

Returning to Herefordshire in 1961, Kath became a teacher, then married Alan Watkins and settled at Rudge End Farm, where they raised their children Zac and Gay. From that moment on, her energy was poured into the life of the parish — helping to run the WI, the Darby & Joan Club, the Brownies and Guides, the tennis club, the church choir, bell-ringing, and later the Fownhope Bridge Club.

Kath’s story is one of generosity and quiet leadership. She started things, handed them on, and made sure there was joy at the heart of village life. As one friend once greeted her — “Hello, Mrs Fownhope!” — few titles could fit her better.