More tests and a large dose of radiotherapy followed. There being a limit to what practically could be done, Jan was discharged and she came back to her home, Brewood Hall. Just a few days later, Jan passed away peacefully in her sleep, at home, in the early hours of 13 July 2024.
Jan was a very dear friend. Those of you familiar with her blog will know that there is a qualification in its heading, acknowledging that some recollections are probably unreliable. Any inaccuracy in this piece is down to me, but this is the Jan I knew and will remember.
She and I first met about eighteen years ago. Jan was looking for a new accountant, to look after her affairs and those of her company, Ford Electronics Limited, following the retirement of her previous adviser. I remember visiting Brewood Hall, and the Small Barn from which Jan ran her business, for the first time.
Jan was professional, prepared and very correct in what she was looking for. I think we probably got along professionally from the outset, but I think it was a mutual interest in railways which sealed the deal. Indeed, in many business meetings that followed, she and I would dispatch accounting and tax matters quite swiftly, before moving to more important things such as steam locomotives, politics and her home, Brewood Hall.
From a professional relationship grew a friendship and a fondness, as well as trust in each other, which I shall forever treasure.
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A photograph which reflects many of my memories of Jan |
Jan’s work
Jan came from Wolverhampton. Her family had worked at Sunbeam, a major motor factory in the town. They and she were proud of this. After school, Jan applied for work at British Railways. She was not offered the job she wanted and so started work with a company called Contactor Switch Gear Electronics Limited in Wolverhampton.
From there, after a few years, she set up on her own as Jan Ford Consultant Electronic Engineers. The business was incorporated as Ford Electronics Limited in 1977. Ford Electronics still exists and only relatively recently completed the delivery of a number of what I understand to be “tunnel telephony cabinets” to London Underground. There is much more technical detail about this work elsewhere in Jan’s blog.
Jan’s work for over fifty years was in railway signalling and communications technology. Her work contributed to, and continues to do so, safety on the railway systems of both the UK and a number of other countries.
The question of retirement had been discussed a number of times over recent years, but at least three factors kept Jan working. Firstly, she did not want to let any customers down and Jan felt very responsible for the support of the equipment her company had supplied. Secondly, Jan needed the intellectual stimulation that the work gave her. Again, referring to the introduction to her blog, she believed in, “The pleasure of finding things out.” Thirdly, I think she just enjoyed it.
In the early 2000s, Jan restored the Small Barn at Brewood Hall and relocated her business into it.
Those who knew Jan a little better will not be surprised that Jan continued to work on Ford Electronics business whilst she was still in hospital, in the week before she passed away. I think the hospital staff were somewhat perplexed that an octogenarian lady would insist on working from a hospital bed, with a laptop cribbing off the hospital’s wi-fi, despite being so poorly.
Jan’s home
Jan loved Brewood Hall, which she bought in 1971. Jan had seen an advert for the sale of the Hall in the local paper and had cycled out from Wolverhampton to Brewood one day, to have a look. She made entry through a broken window. Riding home, she said to herself, “I’ll buy that.”
It was one of the gambles that Jan made throughout her life. I am not sure that she comfortably had the funds to buy the Hall, but she managed it nevertheless. The Hall was in poor condition and in the earlier years of ownership, Jan was not able to afford much restoration work.
However, as time passed, the business became more successful and the finances allowed for considerable restoration work and ongoing maintenance to be undertaken. Jan did not seek to over-restore or to modernise the Hall. She chose to conserve it, having deep respect for its nature and history. It was very much Jan’s home, but she saw herself as custodian rather than owner.
As with many things, Jan researched the Hall’s history and much of her work is reflected in the blog.
Jan had described herself to me as being a private person. In some ways, this may have been so. However, Jan shared a very great deal in and of her life. She opened the Hall to local and national groups and societies. When Jan found out that I was involved with the local Scout Group, she kindly extended an invitation to the Scout Troop to visit one evening. I think it was remarkably brave on her part to have allowed a group of young people into her home, but she did. The Scouts were fortunately well-behaved and Jan answered all their questions with patience and good humour.
Later, one winter, snow had fallen in the area and I thought it would be good if the Scouts could have a snowball fight. The only place I knew that would have undisturbed snow was Brewood Hall. I telephoned Jan and she was delighted to say, “Yes”. That evening a full-on battle took place in the Hall’s gardens. Jan had dragooned friends and, after the battle, there was soup and snacks for the Scouts in the kitchen. Jan recorded events with her camera and subsequently wrote about it on her blog.
In 2013, Jan was instrumental in the organisation of the Brewood Vintage Garden Party. The event was to be held in the beautiful grounds of Brewood Hall, styled as an old-fashioned fun family afternoon playing games, listening to music, enjoying refreshments and just taking in the gardens. The event was run for many years, raising money for the Scout Group, the local church and also for Jan’s own charitable interests.
Jan was pleased to share her home with hundreds and hundreds of people and she enjoyed seeing how Brewood Hall weaved its own magic on those visitors, as it had done on her.
Ty Gwyn
Ty Gwyn is Welsh and it means White House. It is also the name given to a parcel of woodland which Jan acquired long ago near Betws-y-Coed in Wales. I suspect that the woodlands were acquired originally for the tax breaks.
However, Jan took Ty Gwyn to heart and it became a very special place for her, shared with Daemon and her friends over many visits over many years. Although under management by a commercial service provider, Jan took huge interest in what was actually going on at Ty Gwyn and was there to see the trees harvested in 2010, marvelling at the machinery employed and then finding out all about it.
Jan’s travels
After Jan’s partner, Daemon, passed away, Jan started to travel. I had always wondered at her courage, venturing forth alone on long trips all around the world. Jan travelled to many places and, in each case, reported what she found and did on her blog.
The blog was a very significant endeavour on Jan’s part. We never really did discuss why she did it. I think, though, that it was in part her story for herself, but also that she was sharing her experiences of travel, people and cultures (yes, and railways) so that others may learn. Jan’s blogs were not simply monotonous itineraries. She took great time to research what she had seen or what had piqued her interest. Subsequently, detailed and accurate historical or technical notes would follow. Photographs would be labelled and sources would be properly credited. Sign posts for further research were included.
The blog is a testament to Jan’s life and work, but is also a significant source of technical information for much of the work Ford Electronics has done, railway systems and rolling stock, architecture and culture. It is intended that Jan’s blog be maintained as an ongoing source of information for its many readers.
Myanmar
Of all the places Jan visited, Myanmar (formerly Burma) had, I believe, most impact. In simple terms, I think she fell in love with the country and its people. The peaceful nature of the Bhuddist religion she experienced and the monasteries she visited moved her very deeply. She was impressed by the monks and the resilience and good cheer of the people.
She visited Myanmar a number of times. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic and then political unrest in Myanmar made recent visits impossible. Jan last visited in 2019. The country’s current troubles grieved her.
Jan made good friends in Burma. Through contacts there, Jan was able to fund the establishment of a school and a small medical facility, Bagan Clinic. Jan continued to support these establishments with money and donations of food and medical and educational supplies, often visiting to see progress and the work being done at first hand.
The school and the medical facility have grown and Jan would receive regular updates from Dr Hla Tun about the people helped by the medical centre and the orphanages.
Jan travelled extensively within Myanmar and documented it all in her blog. She even found time to investigate local railways and often found herself in signal boxes and control rooms, speaking with the local railway men and women – finding things out.
Railways
Railways formed a significant part of Jan’s life and work. She put her interest in railways down to her grandfather and she recalled seeing the Ealing comedy, The Titfield Thunderbolt, at an early age.
Although Jan’s work was largely in the railway industry, her interest in actual railways and trains was relatively low until a chance encounter in 1988, when Jan was travelling by rail to Manchester and saw “Lion” at Crewe Heritage Centre. Lion was built in 1838 and was the locomotive used to represent Thunderbolt in the 1953 Ealing film. On the way home, Jan got off at Crewe and went to investigate.
Jan found Lion in steam running up and down. The people running her were members of the Old Locomotive Committee, OLCO. They invited Jan to ride on Lion and then invited her to join the Committee. Jan did.
From there, a very active interest in railways was reborn. Jan’s membership of OLCO remained until she passed away. She was long term secretary, she assisted with the OLCO publication Lionsheart and she attended the annual gatherings called Lionsmeet, where large scale model Lions would compete at engineering society venues throughout the country. Jan would invigilate as well as record and, in due course, a fully researched blog would follow describing not just the events of the day as far as OLCO was concerned, but also including full descriptions of the host society’s facilities and history.
Jan’s locomotive driving would also develop. Jan fired and drove a wide range of steam and diesel locomotives, including the LNER’s “Flying Scotsman”. She would also train others to drive steam locomotives.
Later Jan would drive steam locomotives on the preserved Peak Rail and Battlefield Lines. Jan was particularly fond of the Battlefield Line, driving until 2023 when of her own volition she decided that it was perhaps getting a little too much. Jan took these driving responsibilities extremely seriously, ensuring that the safety processes and protocols were followed and that the passengers in her charge were properly looked after.
I always thought it funny that a lady who could drive a 98-tonne Flying Scotsman, or a British Railways diesel multiple unit full of passengers, never learned to drive a car.
In November last year, I cajoled Jan into buying a Titfield Thunderbolt trainset in OO gauge from Rapido. Neither Jan nor I were sure how this fitted into a normal accountant-client relationship, but Jan took my advice nevertheless. At the Warley model railway exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham, Jan represented OLCO with a friend, John, a bit of help from me and the Rapido Titfield Thunderbolt.
Jan had always said that model railways did not appeal too much to her, as she had been able to play with a scale of 12”:1ft and that rather spoiled everything else. However, the little Thunderbolt and its hotchpotch train enchanted her, with sound and independent running, driven off a DCC controller. Jan later bought the Lion version of Rapido’s offering!
Jan’s interests in railways encompassed work, history, technology, geography and architecture, societies and many, many friends. As with everything that she did, Jan gave her time and the best of herself to these endeavours.
Legacy
Jan’s legacy will, I believe, take many forms.
It will be in the school and medical centre which she helped to establish in Myanmar and which has helped hundreds, if not thousands, of people. It will be in her work, contributing to safety on our railways.
Part of what Jan leaves behind is Brewood Hall, with its integrity and history, which she shared with so many people.
Her efforts have benefitted people in the various organisations she has supported for such a long time, such as OLCO and the Battlefield Line.
This blog, written over twenty years, is a historical and technical resource for anyone interested in railways, shipping, travel, history or architecture and many more things besides.
Jan’s legacy will live in the hearts of all of us who knew her as a wonderful, brave and trusting friend.
For me, I will always remember the time spent chatting with Jan and putting the world to rights. Jan would always make me smile with her vocabulary, not often too rude (unless the subject was Tony Blair) but usually razor sharp and very funny. Words like “rapscallion” to describe Daemon. Words like “rob dogs”, used variously to describe HM Revenue & Customs and banks. Jan was one of a kind.
I loved her and I shall miss her.
GH
23 July 2024
