Joan Elizabeth Blencowe 1953 - 2011 Joan Blencowe bravely fought and survived Breast Cancer for ten years, but her life was tragically cut short on April 1 2011, at the age of 57. Our large family, which consists of many generations is devastated, but we will always treasure the lovely memories we have of her. It was a cold, grey misty November morning in 1958, when my sister Joan and I woke up in our bunk beds and looked through the porthole of our ship, the ‘Reina del Mar’. A small tug boat was guiding us into Southampton Docks. It was all a huge contrast to the heat of the tropics where we had embarked at Cartagena, South America and visited Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and Bermuda and we had watched the flying fish playing in the brilliant blue Atlantic. Our father loved to take cine films of us, and Joan was featured from her earliest years being fascinated by the myriads of coloured flowers and butterflies in South America. Joan enjoyed her fifth birthday party on the boat as we crossed the Atlantic to England. Our father's business was in South America. Therefore he had to work long hours there so we could make our home in the Isle of Man, which was a beautiful and comparatively safe place to live. When she started school, Joan showed an early talent for Arithmetic, Nature and Art. Her arithmetic was at distinction level and she helped our father with his accounts from the age of nine. She loved all aspects of nature and animals, particularly sheep. She studied caterpillars, beetles and snails and quickly learned the botanical names of flowers. We used to love to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Blencowe in South Devon. Their house was full of happiness and laughter. There, little Joan and I had fun with our six cousins; Auntie Betty's sons: Robert, Jimmy and Peter and Auntie Joan's children: Pat, Tim and David. Though we lived in different parts of the world, we were always pleased to see each other whenever possible. Our Grandparents kept chickens and we often played in their large chicken houses. We also helped to pick and prepare their home-grown vegetables, which strongly influenced Joan in her later life. As sisters, we had a very close relationship and a happy family life. Joan and I shared all our dreams for the future, all our adventures (planned and in reality), and all the secrets that we would not divulge to our closest friends; let alone the “grown-ups!” One day, when Joan was 12 years old, she came home and said to me, “I was swimming in Port Erin harbour and I felt peculiar, and the next thing I knew a man was pulling me out of the water on to the jetty.” The man, who was an off-duty policeman received an award and Joan was diagnosed and treated for Epilepsy for a number of years. In spite of this, fellow pupils and teachers from Joan’s secondary school remember her as a high-achiever. She passed ten ‘O’ levels, several at distinction and obtained very good grades at ‘A’ level in Geology, Biology and Mathematics. When Joan studied for a degree in Art and Technology in Cheltenham, our parents moved the family home there. Then Joan moved to Wye College, where she obtained an MSC in Landscape Architecture. Her “digs” were at the Archbishop of Canterbury’s residence. His family made Joan very welcome and it was there that she deepened her interest in Christianity. Joan began her career as a Landscape Architect, working in London and then in Liverpool. She wanted to move away from city life, and in 1983 she was accepted as a Landscape Architect in Barnsley. While she was looking for a house, Joan came to live with me in the in the breathtaking Pennine countryside near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, which she very much enjoyed. Therefore, she decided to buy the original Lodge to Lascelles Hall, just up the road in Kirkheaton. Joan enjoyed staying over and babysitting occasionally and I’ll always be grateful to her for getting me to hospital when I went into labour three weeks early! In Kirkheaton Joan made friends, participated in village life and became an active member of the Parish Church. In West Yorkshire, Joan’s landscape remit was to design the “green areas”, where trees were planted near motorways. However, always having wanted to run her own Arts and Crafts business, Joan became self-employed. Taking on professional photography assignments, she obtained a computing degree at Huddersfield University and produced very successful panoramic views for clients such as Sage Music in Gateshead, Manchester Airport and the Welsh Parliament Buildings. Joan had always been interested in the technical side of photography because our Mother had won several competitions at National level. Continuing as a professional photographer, Joan remained passionate about the preservation of the countryside. She took photos for the National Trust, always retaining her interest in nature and landscape architecture. Following our father’s example, Joan was a very adventurous, independent character and she decided to holiday in India on her own. She also travelled widely in Spain and Greece and also to Dubai and Australia. Animals had always been so important to Joan that when she was made to sit in front of a roast iamb dinner all afternoon at school, she declared herself a vegetarian at the age of ten! Just as her grandparents had done before her, Joan was very fond of her chickens, which foraged free-range in her garden and produced a good supply of eggs. She was also interested in self sufficiency and she grew her own vegetables. Our family "seat" Blencowe Hall, had been partly ruined since the time of Oliver Cromwell and there is still a huge "rent" in one of the towers. In 2005 it was purchased by its present owners, who restored it with the help of British Heritage. Our parents would have been so proud that Joan was able to share a moment in history when she stayed at Blencowe Hall in 2010. More than 80 members of our Blencowe "clan" came from Australia, the United States and the U.K. to celebrate the 25th year of the Blencowe Family Association. In 1999 our father, Harry Blencowe died; and in 2001 our Mother, disabled with rheumatoid arthritis, broke her hip. In the same year, I broke my ankle, and Joan found out she had Cancer. Joan was the reason I began running for Cancer Research UK, and she came to many events, supported by all the family. One of my happiest memories is of Joan at Race for Life in Harrogate. Her hair was growing again. She smiled at one of the Cancer survivors and she said “I’m a survivor too”. Joan never gave in to Cancer and always seemed so upbeat and optimistic. Her family and friends were deeply shocked and saddened when she died suddenly, only a short time after she had begun chemotherapy treatment. However, nothing can take away all the happy memories. Joan used to love to visit The Holy Island of Lindisfarne, which can be seen from the train travelling up to Edinburgh. It seems fitting, therefore that I run the Edinburgh Marathon 2012 and the Great North Run this September 2011 for Cancer Research UK, to remember Joan. We desperately need to find a way to cure Cancer. If you would like to donate to Cancer Research UK in memory of Joan, you can do so on “www.Justgiving.com/Joan-Blencowe”. Thank you so much for your support. Catherine Blencowe