Margaret Leamon will continue to take her accustomed seat, which she donated to Friends of the Castle in memory of her husband and her father. She will remain as a benign spirit watching over the place. No one dared to misbehave in the grounds while she and her yorkies were on guard, and they had better not think she has gone.

She was the foremost of all the Castle's Friends, taking great delight in its Green Flag and Green Heritage Awards and the huge improvements the Parks Department has made in its partnership with local people like herself, but she was always the kind of friend who would tell you to your face when you were getting something wrong. She loved the flower borders which local children planted, but there were never enough flowers for her. Perhaps we had better do something special to satisfy the gentle demands of her spirit. She came to all the concerts held in its beautiful grounds and gently but firmly asked for donations to the Friends' funds from all who intended. No one ever said no to her. There was no one more fitting to welcome Lord and Lady Egremont to the unveiling of Paul Bainbridge's sculpture.
She loved to see her church, St Michael’s and St Mary’s, decked with flowers and would have been thrilled by the sight of it on the day of her funeral when her friend, Rev. John Woolcock returned to his former parish to conduct the service.
She was also a devotee of Crab Fair, especially loving the parade of horses. For her the morning events of the Fair captured the spirit of her beloved town. That is why we have chosen to remember her by this picture of her standing with a friend in front of Robyn Napier, at the climax of the Riding of the Boundary in 2006.

She was also a great friend of Egremont Today, writing us many letters, keeping a stern eye on our conduct, and, as long as she was able, folding a huge number of our copies for many years and even posting them through letter boxes in her neighbourhood. She never failed to vote in elections and always volunteered to play her part on polling day, taking numbers at polling stations from the moment that voting started. These old fashioned methods have fallen out of fashion with modernisers in all parties, but they really worked. Election Day, too, will never be the same without Margaret.

Egremont Today is no good at obituaries, but how could we fail to say thank you for the life of such a great friend of Egremont?