There was always great anticipation when the Norris family was due to arrive at the holiday cottage near Chepstow which was owned by BJ. They arrived by car with caravan of some sort or a trailer and out poured children, dogs, bats, balls, tents and sometimes even a wormery. We knew that fun and games would follow. It was here that I first met Margot in the early 1970s.
Margot was a great inventor of games, particularly silly games and ones which involved quite a lot of physical action. Treasure hunts and throwing oneself around in the long grass in the twilight sometimes featured! She was an expert at getting everyone involved and bringing much laughter and joy to any occasion. At one party a vast number of toilet rolls was produced and we wrapped guests like parcels in toilet paper. Margot was a good games player with exceptional hand-eye co-ordination and many of the games were of a more athletic type with a twist: crazy versions of catch or cricket and many other sports, sometimes using bizarre equipment such as the inside of carpet rolls about 20 feet long as stumps and bats. Not only were there silly games but also silly presents. In fact, over the years there arose almost a rivalry as to who could hand over the silliest Christmas present. Possibly her flying nuns were most memorable! No surprise we often called her ‘dotti-Margi’.
Margot’s energy seemed boundless. She was a competent musician, played several instruments, and joined a steel band while in Market Harborough. She was always busy, making video, and developing various craft skills over the years and riding her bike around town and to the ferry when she moved to Gosport. Margot and Malc’s love of boats led to many adventures too. A trip on the canal near Guildford was promised one new year but it was very cold and the canal froze over. Nothing daunted, Margot and Malc broke through the ice enough to get the boat moving and took about six of us on a trip. On another occasion when the Norris’s were on holiday in Bedfordshire, our phone rang after heavy storms asking us to rescue them from the boat as the canal had risen and they could not return to their starting point where the car was parked because of the low bridges.
Margot has been a great friend to us, with regular phone calls, get-togethers when possible and always ready to give help. For example, she and Malc helped decorate the sitting room when we first came to Devon. Throughout the many years when her health was not good she rarely complained but still had that strong sense of humour which made light of some of the worst traumas. She will be very much missed and never forgotten. Dotti-Margi, we enjoyed your friendship so much, your energy and your quirky sense of humour and we are so thankful we were able to make that last visit to see you. Even then there were lots of laughs.

Judith