Remembering Arthur Wells

 On Sunday 28 October a Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving was held in Whaddon Church. The purpose of this peaceful service was to provide us, as a village community, an opportunity to remember those we have lost.

 Arthur Wells was one of the many names read out that Sunday. A candle was lit for him, as well as his daughter Ann, who died before him in 2005. Arthur died in July 2007 after a short stay in Brookfields, Cambridge. His family give a brief outline of his long life, much of which was lived in Whaddon.

 Arthur was born in Cambridge in 1914. He was the second youngest of a family of 12 children. He met Peggy in 1938 when she was working in Newmarket Road. In 1939 he joined the army and served until 1945. He was given leave to marry Peggy Linsdell in Whaddon Church in 1941 and their daughter Ann followed in 1944. After demob, the family lived for a time in Bridge Street and then a short period in Litlington but they returned to 29 Church End (now Street) Whaddon, where they lived until the mid sixties, before moving to the bungalow on the site of old Pickering Farm. In 1950 their son Raymond was born and the Wells family was complete.

 During his time in the Army, Arthur trained as a chef and in civvy street he carried on working for the MOD at RAF (as it was then) Bassingbourn and later the Army. His speciality was pastry and his cheese straws were, by all accounts, a thing of legend. Arthur’s main hobby was growing plants and selling them from the side of the road. He had regular customers who returned year after year.

 The thing that gave Arthur his greatest pleasure though, was his ability to make people laugh and he always has a new gag or prop to raise a smile. This continued right up until his last days in the Lord Byron Ward at Brookfields, Cambridge, where, while he was still able he would try to joke with the nurses. Nobody was immune to his practical jokes and he would often greet visitors at the door wearing something from his box of tricks.

 Arthur became quite frail in his last years and early in 2007 he fell and broke his hip. He never really recovered his health after this and was transferred to Brookfields and then The Lord Byron Ward, where he received exceptional care and attention until his death on 18 July, he was 92.