Obituary: Catherine (Irene) Helen Bell
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Catherine Helen Grant was born on July 21, 1929 in her granny Grant’s flat at Gallowgate, Aberdeen.
Her parents were James and Katie and their family home was in Invergordon.
James was a butcher and Katie was mum to the couple’s two children, Irene and Williamina Mary, known as Wilma. Wilma was five years older than Irene but the two were close and Irene was devastated by the death of her sister when she was only 34 from complications from diabetes.
As a young child, Irene had fond memories of outings sitting on her mother’s knee in the sidecar attached to her father’s motorbike, while her sister sat on the “dickie seat.” She also remembered how excited she felt the day father came home with a new Austin seven car!
They had a happy childhood, spent living above the butcher’s shop in King Street, Invergordon.
Irene remembered visits by family members from Aberdeen.
She was delighted to get to push the pram containing her young cousin, Isabel, and she enjoyed days of conversation and laughter when the Aberdeen family came to Invergordon. She maintained regular contact throughout her life.
Irene enjoyed attended Invergordon Primary School, recalling her box of slate pencils and a little metal box with a damp sponge in it for writing on a slate! Her first teacher was Miss Bell. Years 1-4 were in what is now the Cromlet Flats.
Irene also remembered the games that they used to play in the playground and sitting making daisy chains on the grass in front of the school.
Irene also recalled getting the strap for stumbling over the Second Catechism!
Years 5-7, were in the middle building, now part of Park Primary School. World WarII began when Irene was just 10. She remembered bombs being dropped on the oil tanks in Invergordon and one exploded, flooding the station.
The Armed Forces took over the two bottom buildings of the school and alternate accommodation had to be found for the pupils. Primaries 5 and 6 had to go by train to Bridgend, Alness for three hours per day, alternating mornings and afternoons with the Alness children.
The navy requisitioned the secondary school and Irene and her friends had to travel by train to school at Dingwall Academy, where they shared the school day, with Dingwall Academy’s own students. This reverted back to Invergordon for two years and then back to Dingwall for the final two
years. There was lots of practice to file out to the air-raid shelters but eventually this stopped.
During the war years, the town was full of army, navy and air force personnel and Irene’s father had to deal with rationing in his shop. Known as a good man, Irene remembers him quietly giving extra meat to those in need. Of course, as was the custom at the time, if a stag was acquired through illicit means and was handed into the back door of the butchers, it would be rude of James to refuse the chance to sell venison to the community!
Irene remembered walking up the Invergordon High Street from the station in 1945, with her friend, when a classmate came running down the street, waving his arms and shouting, ”The war is over!”
Irene did well at school, particularly in French and German.
Her German was very significant as she started to write to her German pen pal, Heinz, immediately after the war and in some ways their communication was a symbol of reconciliation. Irene’s relationship with Heinz and his family remained important throughout her life.
In her younger years, Irene played tennis, which became a lifelong passion. She was a member of the tennis club and vividly remembered the days, late in the war when a group of Polish soldiers, stationed locally, appeared at the tennis club, causing the hearts of a few young women to flutter!
Irene was an avid reader. She played the piano to a high standard and she was a keen member of the Brownies and Girl Guides. When the Guides’ leader joined the WRNS, Irene and her friend kept the company going.
She learned Morse code and semaphore, which her father helped her with as he had been a telegraphist in the navy in World War I.
After leaving school, Irene studied French and German at Edinburgh University. She met Robert Bell, the man she was destined to marry at a university dance for the Engineering Society during her second year.
Irene and her friends had chosen the engineering dance carefully, recognising that there would be more dance partners there.
Her next move was to Moray House College of Education where she trained to become a primary school teacher.
Irene’s first job was in Cardenden in Fife. The male headteacher there gave her a very interesting reference. It was glowing about her teaching skills, of course, but it specifically mentioned the nice clothes Irene wore, how attractive she was, and how he would miss looking at her in the staff room! He would never get away with that today.
Irene and Robert married in Invergordon in December 1953 and Irene began work in Edinburgh, where they then lived.
There was plenty of play too as the couple went on holiday to Europe on Robert’s motorbike.
Their next landmarks were the arrival of their own children, Catriona in 1957 and Gavin in 1960. Irene and Robert were thrilled and initially, Irene stayed home, when they were small. However, due to a teacher shortage, she was persuaded to take a job in an infant class before Gavin was old enough to be at school himself. She was allowed to have him in the classroom with her, while she worked, and it worked for Gavin too as there were plenty things to play with!
Many holiday periods were spent back home in Invergordon and Irene always liked to get ready to drive north, or abroad, as soon as the school closed.
Irene loved the sun. Sometimes they’d head off to Spain or the south of France to go camping. One time they took the ‘motor-rail’ train to London before heading to France and Gavin remembers sleeping in the luggage rack!
Unusually for the time, Irene worked full time throughout much of Catriona and Gavin’s childhood. She usually managed to work in the same school that they went to and walked to and from school at the same times as them so they didn’t feel like latch key kids!
Due to Robert’s work, the family moved about from Edinburgh to Alloa, Bridge of Allan and Hawick before,finally, returning to the Highlands, to Alness this time, in1972.
As parents, Irene and Robert were supportive and encouraging rather than directing but, having a working mother, Catriona and Gavin soon learnt to wash their own dishes before heading out to school. Irene rejected ‘traditional’ views of women espoused by magazines and the like, and never felt bound by any expectation that women had to be housekeepers!
Irene became the main breadwinner, teaching in Invergordon as Robert was starting his own business and was away from home most weekdays. Times were sometimes challenging but Irene was a resilient person.
In the later 1970s, Irene’s father lived with them as he was becoming frail, until they could no longer care for his needs.
They also had a succession of cats in residence.
In 1974, Irene got a job as assistant headteacher at the newly built Obsdale Primary School, Alness and remained there until she retired as acting head teacher at age 62. She continued with supply teaching until she was 70. Still, she missed her work and wondered what she would do with her time. She soon filled it!
Robert and Irene were keen members of Alness and Evanton walking groups and they both volunteered at the Alness Heritage Centre. They had many holidays, especially to Mediterranean islands. They’d book a flight and hire a car, carrying camping gear with them or finding self-catering accommodation, when they got there.
They visited Robert’s brother, George, his wife Maureen and their daughter Christine in New Zealand and Gavin and his family when they moved to Oman and the USA.
In the 80s and 90s there was the delight of grandchildren for Irene and Robert and they were thrilled to welcome Catriona and Duncan’s children Donald, Mairi and Ian and Gavin and Hilary’s family, Shona, Kirsty and Ewan.
There was great excitement at the arrival of the first grandchild – and of course all the subsequent grandchildren.
There was champagne in the staffroom on the day after Donald was born and the school kids got an extra-long playtime that day!
Irene took great pride in seeing them follow their different paths, all the places they went and the things they did and meeting their friends and partners.
Sadly, due to Covid, she did not get much time with her great granddaughter, Eilidh, but did get to cuddle her once and loved to watch her on video calls and hear about her first tooth.
When Robert died in 2007, Irene missed him terribly. Still, Irene was a strong, independent woman and she continued to enjoy many holidays with her family, took part in many family events, travelled to Whistler in Canada to visit their grandson Iain and to Siberia for their grandson Donald’s wedding.
She continued in the Alness and Evanton walking groups, was a member of a book group, wrote the ‘40 years ago’ column for the Alness and District Times, attended a keep fit class regularly and moved to a new house, built in the garden of her original house! You can comfortably say that she had an active life in retirement, latterly meeting her friends for coffee after they exercised and keeping up with all their news.
There are two very special family events which we must mention. For this tennis loving woman’s 80th birthday, in 2009, Gavin and Catriona took her to Wimbledon. (Irene was always glued to her television when Wimbledon was on).
She loved it all, the tennis, of course, and also drinking Pimms on Henman Hill and eating strawberries and cream.
They had a picnic on the train down, washed down by a glass of wine.
A decade later it was her 90th birthday and, just 18 months ago, the whole family spent a glorious weekend together and had a memorable meal at the Links House Hotel in Dornoch.
Gavin recalled that his mother always had time to chat to people in the street. She always showed interest but would sometimes admit afterwards that she had no idea who the person was!
Irene was always welcoming of Gavin’s friends, many of them all at one time. On one occasion, 15 of his friends squeezed into the sitting room to watch Wimbledon.
She was always very supportive of her children and her door was always open. Irene wrote regularly to Gavin on his trips with the navy and always wrote the date in her school teacher writing to make sure that he opened the letters in order.
Catriona has memories of her mother sitting by the fire, marking children’s jotters and sometimes writing “Good” beside their work. Catriona recalled that on Christmas mornings, Santa would leave them gifts with their names written on them in the same handwriting!
Irene put a lot of work into researching her family tree. She had a very strong appreciation of her roots and how far the family had come in terms of comfort, education and material wealth, especially her father, Jimmy Grant.
Irene greatly valued her local friends and connections in the Alness /Invergordon area and her long-term friends and family.
Those same friends and connections in Alness and beyond will greatly miss Irene. She was loved and respected by so many. She influenced the lives of thousands of schoolchildren and their families.
Farewell dear Irene. Our lives have been enriched by having known you. You have definitely earned a 10/10 in your “Jotter of Life” and a gold star.
Edited from notes from Irene Bell, Catriona nee Bell and Gavin Bell
