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It could be said Gravesend will be a duller place following the death of beloved artist and eccentric Beryl Martin, nee Brown.
But the tributes paid to her throughout this month show her memory will continue to burn bright throughout the town, while her artwork remains a lasting testament to a vibrant life.
Beryl, of Darnley Road, Gravesend, died aged 81 on September 13, just over two years after the death of her second husband Brian Warner - a beloved waterman who will also not be forgotten in the town .
Friends Shelagh Kirby, Sue Couves, and Val Green gathered the following memories of Beryl, to pay tribute to a woman who "lived vividly through the 81 years of her life."
Born in Woolwich just before WW2, Beryl's early schooling was disrupted by poor health and wartime conditions, but from an early age she learned how to analyse problems and find solutions from her father, a gifted DIY man.
She went on to study art at Goldsmith's College, where she met John Hayward (Woodie) who remained a good friend, and together they travelled to Rajasthan and up to Chandigarh to see Le Corbusier's legacy of modern architecture - an intrepid expedition which Beryl documented in a diary.
Beryl's first husband collected historical armaments, and they had a room dedicated to this remarkable assemblage of valuable antiques. Beryl met her second husband twenty years later, appropriately by the river, as Brian Warner, known locally as Bruno, came from a long line of river men.
They lived in Darnley Road where Beryl's parties became renowned as events not to be missed, and the couple enjoyed legendary camping holidays in the north and abroad with a large group of friends, whose lives are less exciting without her.
Beryl joined Pearce Signs in the design department, creating all sorts of signs including electric signs.
"She was quite eccentric, a vegetarian, smoked a lot, made all her own clothes," recalled Val Green, of those days at the signage company. "She did all sorts of creative things - upholstery, pottery, painting. She made wonderful dishes and bowls out of paper mache and painted them beautifully. She loved jazz, made homemade wine out of all sorts of fruit and veg including potato skins. She probably got this from her mother who we visited on one occasion. She had a cellar full of potted food of all sorts."
Beryl's decor was also unique, and she epitomised the ideals of The Arts and Crafts Movement - making astonishing chandeliers and much more, including papier mache pigs that remain sought after. Beryl earned her living later by painting pub signs and the attentive pedestrian will recognise her hand in the bollards on Queen Street, yet another lasting example of her work from a lifetime of artistic expression.
At home in Darnley Road, the Poonian family nextdoor became became Beryl's 'adopted sons', and she attended school parents' evenings for Harvey and his brothers in loco parentis.
She loved music, especially jazz, and never missed the annual Jazz Night at Cobham Hall where she would dance all night in a silver sequinned flapper dress.
She was also, like her brother, a keen gardener, keeping her gardens as neatly as her house. She and Bruno were also regularly present at the Hartley Poetry Society monthly meetings, contributing their own original work.
"Beryl's life demands adjectives like animated, thrilling, lively, eventful but also kind, hospitable, sociable, funny and creative," recall her friends. "She is a loss to all who knew her."
