The more mature among us will probably remember that gifted of singers, Kathleen Ferrier who sadly died in 1953. She was a pretty girl with an infectious sense of fun, who was an accomplished pianist, but also had a wonderful contralto voice.

At a music festival in 1940, she had just won a medal for her piano playing, when a friend bet her a shilling that she wouldn't enter the singing section. Always being up for a challenge and thinking it might be fun, she not only won that section, but walked off with a rose bowl for being the most outstanding singer in the competition.

Afterwards one of the judges approached her and advised her to abandon her piano playing and take up singing as a career. She took his advice and rose to the top of her profession winning worldwide acclaim. For the last few years before her tragically short life ended Kathleen knew that she was terminally ill with cancer. However, she never lost her irrepressible sense of humour, despite operations and long spells in hospital, she continued her singing career and her friends said that her singing was never better than in the last few months of her young life.

After her death a close friend said, "There was too much happiness in her for us to remember her with sadness. She was great as a singer, but was greater still as Kathleen Ferrier."

A truly wonderful tribute to a quite remarkable lady.