Dorrie lived at Riverbank, Sunbury-on-Thames in a house that backed on to the river complete with a boat house sporting terracotta dragons at the ends of the gables.

“Riverbank and the Little House - Riverbank was a tudor house black and white beamed the ‘small room’ on the left had a door in the panels in the corner which lead through to what was known as the Monk’s passage this lead to the garden room down steps was virtually under the house.

The morning room stretched across the width of the house and overlooked the large garden that led to the bridge over the backwater and the main lawn and veg gardens about 1⁄2 and acre was on the banks of the Thames to the right was the boat house always smothered with clematis in the summer. The kitchen had steps down to the garden so that we could gather the fresh herbs. Dorrie loved cooking.

Upstairs was large and rambling Dorrie’s bedroom looked out over the garden with a large bay window and cushioned window seat ‘My perch”. Bedrooms led off right and left with rooms facing the busy main road to Sunbury-on-Thames. Next door was the Little House a small cosy cottage where Uncle Sam lived part of the time and after his death my grandmother would stay there. She always said it was haunted by a happy ghost. Gran was not nervous and given to imagining things so I never knew whether this was true but if I stayed in the Little House it always felt cosy and friendly.”

Jeanne Bryson