Peacefully  in hospital, with her husband holding her hand, on 18 February  2021, Nola, aged 74, of Great Harwood  and formerly of Bolton. The dearly loved wife of Les, loving mum of Jamie and Becki, loving step-mum of Anna and Matt, and cherished  grandma of Isabel, Nina, Libby and Emily and dear sister of Mick, and a valued relative and friend to many others.

Born in Hull in 1946, Nola came to faith attending her local parish church as a teenager, and has faithfully followed  and served the Lord ever since.

After leaving school Nola trained as a radiographer and worked in hospitals in Hull until her mid-twenties. During this time she continued to attend church and played an active and committed part in church life. In 1969, through her church, she was introduced to Scargill House, a Christian community near Kettlewell  in the Yorkshire  dales. After visits as a guest she decided in 1971 to leave her job as radiographer and join Scargill as a full-time member of the community. She stayed at Scargill until 1974 and while there met Keith, also a community member, and they were married in 1974. Leaving Scargill, Nola and Keith moved to Rostrevor, in Northern Ireland, to join a Christian community whose purpose was reconciliation between catholics and protestants and renewal within the church. Nola worked as a radiographer until the birth of their son Jamie.

Returning to England, the family settled in Sheffield. Nola continued to play an active part in church life, through worship, bible study and home groups, and membership of church committees. Their daughter Becki was born in 1978. From Sheffield, they moved to Grange-over-Sands to manage and run a Christian hotel called Thornleigh. Under their care the hotel was refurbished to provide a more comfortable and welcoming place for visitors. In 1992 the family moved to Bolton, but Nola’s marriage to Keith came to an end.

In Bolton Nola trained as a Careers Advisor, working at the Bolton Council careers service and later, Connexions. She mainly advised secondary school students and especially sought to help teenagers from difficult social or educational backgrounds..

While in Cumbria Nola had started to train as a Reader in the Carlisle Diocese and she took up this again after the move. She attended St Mary’s  church in Deane, Bolton and there met Les, whom she married in 2001. Nola continued to serve faithfully as Reader, but also as teacher, friend, encourager, leader in prayer, welcomer, helper, provider of hospitality, and consoler. At various times Nola was Sunday school teacher, choir member, flower arranger and member of the church council. Nola and Les became working friends at Scargill in 2017.

Nola was passionate about gardening, a love that was shared by Les. They also enjoyed countryside  and coastal walking. In 2019 they moved from Bolton to Great Harwood to enjoy a more rural location and became members of the congregation of St Bartholomew.