Covid-19 claims first victim in Badenoch and Strathspey
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Covid-19 has claimed what is believed to be the virus' first victim in the strath with the passing of well-known and loved Grantown character Wendy Bishop.
Ms Bishop, of Mackay Avenue, died on Saturday aged 97 at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
She had been confirmed as testing positive for coronavirus.
For many years she had run a doll and teddy bear hospital in Grantown at her Toys and Treasures shop on the town's High Street.
Her grand-daughter Johanna had many fond memories of her nan and the unusual shop.
She told the Strathy: "She had a shop like no other, and nan was a grandmother like no other. Dolls and teddy bears were sent to her from all over the world to be fixed."
Johanna said she would often call into the shop with friends on her way home from school to see her nan and the latest additions to the repair line at the store which was an Aladdin's Cave of objects.
"It's a memory shared by many of my friends," said Johanna.
It is understood that Ms Bishop is the first Covid-19 fatality in Grantown and the wider strath although there is no official confirmation.
Johanna said: "My Aunty Mandy and I got to see her a short time before she died and she was full of praise for the hospital's staff and their care and attention.
"At one point she thought she would be coming home to Grantown, they had looked after her so well."
Ms Bishop, who was a regular contributor to the Strathy's correspondence pages, was a mother to six, Sandra, Maureen, twins Richard and Gary, Shane and Mandy.
She had many more grandchildren; great grandchildren; and great, great grandchildren, the latest Lorena who arrived safely eight weeks ago to mother Amy, of Grantown.
Sadly Ms Bishop never got to meet the latest addition to the family as she had been suffering from a chest infection at the time of the birth.
Johanna, Amy's mum, said: "It was a real shame for her that she never got to meet Lorena. She loved her family and she was always sending us all cards – it is something that we will miss."
Ms Bishop was born in 1923 in Northfleet in Kent to Fredk and Ethel Austin. She had two siblings, a sister Gwendolin and brother Kenneth.
She left school aged 15 to become a kennel maid in the local area.
She was evacuated when the war with Germany began and was sent with her employer Dandie Dinmonts to Herefordshire.
At 17 she left there to enlist in the Royal Air Force as a WAAF medic, serving from 1941-45, something she was very proud of.
She later had an antique shop in Bournemouth before moving to the Highlands.
She initially relocated to Aviemore to work in a hotel in the village before moving to Grantown and setting up business in the Strathspey capital.
Ms Bishop had a love of writing, and several of her poems have been published by national newspapers and magazines.
At 91 she was still busy researching for museums across Britain, including one in Unst, Shetlands, on memorabilia relating to World War II, maritime history and early childhood articles.
In 2014, Ms Bishop published Memories and Moonbeams, 'a galaxy of poems'.
She continued to live on her own with assistance from carers until she was admitted to Raigmore Hospital.
Her funeral will take place this Monday at 1pm at Inverness Crematorium but will be limited to a small gathering of immediate family members in line with Covid-19 lockdown guidance.
Before that, there will be a piped tribute in her memory at Grantown's War Memorial by Spud the Piper after a short drive past in the town including via Mackay Avenue and Inverallan Church.
A full obituary for Ms Bishop will appear in the Strathy.
One of Ms Bishop's poems:
REACHING A GOAL
I always dreamed of writing a book
or putting together a famous song,
but that takes much too long.
My life was always busy
with family and things,
never time to set and muse –
oh the peace it brings!
Now I am old, thoughts come into my fantasy mind
of the cosmic ordering kind.
Telling me to reach for pen and paper
and away I go on a poem caper!
