In 1978 mum & dad took on their first pub, the Jolly Woodman at Beckenham. It was a lovely old place, but with a small kitchen, Betty set to work making tasty pub fare. A year later they were running a much larger establishment, the Sussex Hotel in Hove. Here mum would be seen slicing into huge blocks of cheddar cheese at a fast rate, to make the perfect cheese toasties!

Betty continued to run the catering side, providing an array of dishes for the busy pub, especially her great Roast dinners and I would say that Betty's roast potatoes WERE the best! One particular memory is a Christmas Day when we invited all of the extended family, maybe 30 odd people, and we filled the whole lounge bar with a Family-Lock In (see pictures). Mum would have organised that. 

Later in their career mum and dad went into restaurants and ran the Toby Carvery at Old Coulsdon called the Tudor Rose. Mum got stuck in and kept the kitchen running smoothly. You had never seen so many prawn cocktails in your life! Whichever family member was still living at home, they'd be involved too. It was always a family affair.

Being at the centre of the village, mum met a lot of people. The work was hard with long hours, but this was one reward and mum&dad being naturally sociable joined the local Rotary club and would often be popping over to the Doctors garden opposite in the Summer for village tea parties, or going round to see the local bakers family the Seabrights, who became good friends.

They then went on to manage 2 hotels with the challenges of running a large steak grill and an extensive menu. Locations were always changing every few years but mum adapted and got stuck into new projects. At the Thames Court, a beautiful pub on the river Thames at Shepperton, Betty had a great rapport with the French Head Chef Michel, who produced an amazing fare of gourmet buffet food with fish terrines and huge strawberry Pavlovas. People came from miles around and queued out of the door..

In Mum&dads last pub, the Well House Inn in Surrey, Betty continued to prepare delicious food in a busy atmosphere. I remember one time Angie dropped off her baby boy Jim for a few hours. Jim in his chair lay gurgling on the aluminium work top in the middle of the lunchtime rush, Betty not wanting to miss time with her grandchildren. Luckily he didn't get served up!

Even when mum retired she carried on her catering skills. Often helping out with the Rotary club or in particular at the Worthing bowling club, contributing to the spread on the special Fun Days. 

Sometimes mum went to ingenious lengths to make sure the right food was on the right table at the right time. On a Xmas trip to Switzerland in 2006, Betty managed to smuggle a large frozen Chicken in her flight luggage to Geneva so we wouldn't go without on Xmas Day.