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The obituary notice of Audrey (MBE) SWINDELLS

Bath | Published in: Bath Chronicle.

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AudreySWINDELLSAudrey Swindells, who co-founded the Bath Postal Museum in 1979 with her husband Harold, passed away peacefully at home on Wednesday 12 July surrounded by her loving family. She had celebrated her 95th birthday in May, and was awarded the MBE by Prince Charles in 2010 for her decades of voluntary work for Bath Postal Museum. Audrey was born in Birmingham in 1928, the only child of Dorothy and Frank Stephens. Her parents moved many times during her childhood, but they settled in Felixstowe during the Second World War, where Audrey co-founded the Felixstowe Amateur Dramatic and Operatic Society when she was just 18. She and her future husband, Ray Tibbenham, starred in its first production, the musical comedy 'No, No, Nanette' in 1947. Audrey and Ray were married in 1949 and went on to have three sons, Robert, Stephen and Frank. What brought Audrey to the city of Bath, though was the breakdown of her first marriage. In 1956 she and the boys moved in with her parents, whose flat in Swallow Street overlooked the Roman Baths. She met Harold Swindells at a dance event run by the Friends of Bath Abbey. He owned a newsagents shop in Northumberland Place, where he also sold stamps and postal history, but spurred on by marrying Audrey in 1959 he opened the Bath Stamp Shop on Pulteney Bridge. Harold adopted the three boys, and their honeymoon was a cruise around the archaeological sites of the eastern Mediterranean. The newlyweds had three more children in just over a year, as Josephine was followed by twins David and Michael arriving in 1961. Audrey developed an abiding interest in coins and their business became the Bath Stamp & Coin Shop in the late 1960s. Audrey was a genuine enthusiast, interested in everything and a great storyteller. She was witty and wise, always up for fun and prepared to be adventurous. Early family holidays were happy-go-lucky camping trips around England and Wales with a large tent and a beloved Dormobile campervan somehow accommodating all of us kids. In later decades she and Harold travelled to St Lucia and Jamaica to visit their son Frank, attended their daughter's wedding in Kurdistan in Iraq, and travelled all over Europe and North America for stamp exhibitions and to visit family friends. Having lived in Saltford for most of their married life, they bought 51 Great Pulteney Street in 1977 with the intention of creating the Bath Postal Museum in the house. Audrey adored Bath and was determined that its remarkable role in the history of the Royal Mail and postal communications should be recognised and have a permanent museum in the city. This ambition was realised two years later when the museum was opened by Tom Jackson, General Secretary of The Union of Post Office Workers (as it was then known). She was a natural and skilled PR person, as well as a charismatic and persuasive fundraiser. Among the many patrons who've supported the Bath Postal Museum over the years were Lord Bath, the actor Richard Briers, the entertainer Leslie Crowther and best-selling author Terry Pratchett, each of whom she encouraged to join the cause. In 1985 the Postal Museum moved to much larger premises in what had been, aptly, Bath's first Post Office, at 8 Broad Street. When that building's lease ran out in 2006, the museum moved again to its current location, beneath the Post Office on Northgate Street. The Marquess of Bath, Mrs Richard Briers and Rhianna Pratchett continue to be museum patrons today. In 2018 Audrey's first novel, 'Mitty's Letter', was published, a dramatic love story that was based on an actual letter sent from India in 1833. The original letter was cross-written and it took Audrey over a week to transcribe it, but the novel was also based on many months of research in the UK and while on holiday in India. It's the first in a trilogy of books about Mitty and will finally be available on Amazon soon. In 2014, Harold Swindells sadly passed away. Their son Mike now runs the Bath Stamp & Coin Shop. Audrey's grandchild Tashan is currently editing a short film that she's directed about her extraordinary life and the Bath Postal Museum. Audrey is survived by her six children, ten grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She will be hugely missed as our matriarch, an inspirational role model, for her wise advice and because she was simply a joy to be with. She will always be with us and in our hearts. We will bid farewell to Audrey with a Celebration of her Life at Haycombe Cemetery on Friday 21 July at 3.15pm. www.bathpostalmuseum.org.uk

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Published: 19/07/2023

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Condolences to her family

Carson Loveless

30/06/2024

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Carson Loveless

30/06/2024

Xmas 1974. Saltford.

Steve Swindells

30/07/2023

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Steve Swindells

30/07/2023

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Steve, Rob And Aud. 2021?

Steve Swindells

30/07/2023

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Steve Swindells

30/07/2023

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Steve Swindells

30/07/2023

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Steve Swindells

30/07/2023

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funeral-notices.co.uk

19/07/2023

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