Margaret Macleod has passed away after spending every one of her 86 years in Blairgowrie.
Her love for her hometown was demonstrated in a Courier article published on August 31.
Margaret’s children, Donald and Joy Swales, made a heartfelt plea for Perth and Kinross Council to remove a tree that had grown to cover the view of Wellmeadow from her Croft Court home.
Margaret had been housebound for the previous two years due to physical frailty and Alzheimer’s Disease.
“She moved here for the view but now there is no view,” said Joy, who was Margaret’s full-time carer towards the end of her life.
Sadly she never got to view her beloved Wellmeadow again, but Margaret leaves behind many fond memories for those who loved her dearly.
Generous and athletic
Born in February 1936, Margaret spent her early years in a third-floor tenement flat in Mill Street.
The third eldest of four children, she was raised by mother Margaret, who also brought up her younger sister Frances, brother James and sister Helen.
Son Donald acknowledged that his mother endured a tough upbringing financially during the war, but added that she was encouraged to be generous from an early age.
“They had money but not much really, but they had a great life,” he said.
“And their mother was always a loving mother.
“There was one story about the woman next door needing a shilling for gas. It was on a meter and without it she wouldn’t be able to heat the home or eat.
“My gran only had two shillings herself but she gave that shilling to her. Mum asked why she did that.
“Gran answered, saying she hoped someone would do the same for her if she was ever in the same situation.”
Margaret excelled in athletics at school, winning the junior champion medal for overall sports champion.
She was also known for having long blonde hair, in contrast to her brunette younger sister Frances.
Meeting future husband
Margaret’s future husband Donald was raised in Stornoway.
He was initially in the Army and then moved to Blairgowrie to work as an engineer for the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board Scotland.
“Mum first saw my father in the post office when she was around 19,” her son Donald said.
“She saw him from behind. She said to my aunt ‘I’m going to marry him’.
“Lo and behold, it happened years later.”
They raised their three children in Park Drive and then Croft Court when it was built in 1971.
Land and bakery work
Margaret had a strong work ethic. She was employed by the Co-operative, working in the High Street branch.
Latterly she served as a cleaner at the high school before her final post at the former Crichton’s Bakers in the High Street.
“She loved working with people,” recalled Donald.
Margaret also loved working on the fertile land of the Strathmore Valley.
She worked for former German prisoner of war Lt Col Stitt’s plant nursery and elsewhere picked berries, strawberries and potatoes.
“You worked so much and put money by for your school clothes and shoes,” Donald said.
“Anything left over was your own, which was an incentive to work hard.
“She was a hard worker all her days and well-liked throughout town.
“She just loved people and her family.”
Bets on horses until the very end
Margaret wasn’t much of a drinker but she still enjoyed spending time at the British Legion with her husband.
After Donald died on Boxing Day 1995, Margaret continued to live at their home in Croft Court.
One of her hobbies was placing modest bets on horses.
“She grew up with horses,” Donald said.
“She always had a flutter on the horses but it was nothing major.
“For many years she used to put 5p on the trebles and 5p on the doubles.
“Eventually my sister said ‘mum you have to up your stake a bit because 5p is nothing nowadays.’
“So it would be 10p and 20p. It wasn’t big money but it was something she looked forward to on a Saturday, to watch her horses.
“She did that until she died. She even said four days before she died that she had forgotten to do the horses!”
Friend as well as mother
Margaret is survived by children Callum, Donald and Joy, seven grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.
Donald said: “She was a loving mum, granny and great granny.
“Even though she was your mother she was your friend.”
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