Pearl

Pearl Braddock, 1925-2013

Pearl, who started Friends of the Dell way back in 1996, has died aged 88 in a Surrey nursing home. For many years after her retirement she lived in Westbrook House overlooking the Dell. As a child minder she used to take little children down into the Dell to play. In those days there were several large climbing frames that were exciting things for older children to play on, but nothing for toddlers, so she started a campaign to raise money for equipment that small children could use. She would do sponsored swims at the Oddfellows, run a bric-a-brac sale on the pavement or sweet-talk the patrons of the Woodland or Murphy's into parting with fivers. She also persuaded Barclays Bank to make a generous contribution. Warwick District Council matched the funds she had raised, and it wasn't long before a small slide, a roundabout and two little rockers were installed in the Dell. At a time when the Dell enjoyed a rather unsavoury reputation, it was she who founded Friends of the Dell to raise public awareness of the amenity value of the Dell. It was her idea to hold a community party in 1998 which would celebrate the 50th anniversary of the official opening of the Dell as a public park. The Friends have held an annual party ever since in the Dell, with occasional barbecues and Halloween parties and more recently Music Festivals. Without Pearl, none of these events would have taken place. We owe a lot to her. At the 2012 Dell Party the Friends presented her with a framed copy of the new information panel on which she is mentioned. The picture shows her (centre) with her son Tim and friend Margaret Watkins after the presentation.