"TOFFEE Nanna" had a nickname to match her nature. She was to her Chorlton clan of five generations the sweetest grandmother on the planet.

Christened Mary Smith – the 4ft high mum of seven, bingo caller extraordinaire, curling champion and wartime aircraft welder – she was never known as anything other than Peggy or Queenie to her grown-up family and friends.

But to all her 24 grandchildren, 48 great-grandchildren and ten great great-grandchildren she was known simply as "Toffee Nanna" because she always had a treat in her pocket for them and they loved her to bits.

She firmly believed sucking on a nice Trebor mint solved a multitude of worries. She always had an emergency packet at hand and just like magic it often did the trick.

On Friday, May 15, two weeks after she died suddenly in A&E at Wythenshawe Hospital – the day before her 87th birthday – the clan and family friends gathered in force to pay a final tribute to a woman who made an enormous impact on the Merseybank community in which she had lived for more than 50 years. Toffee Nanna, of Princess Road, Barlow Moor Estate, had a huge passion for life and when walking became an impossibility her grandchildren rallied and bought her a motorised scooter.

"That was it. This supergran could not be stopped," said granddaughter Mandy Shelton. "She was off and she even showed off one -handed as she waved at passers-by."

Toffee Nanna, born in County Kildare, southern Ireland, who married her late beloved husband Leslie within six weeks of meeting him in Levenshulme, had earlier worked welding aeroplane wings for Lancaster bombers before being trained as a skilled machinist whilst bringing up her children.

A keen curler – an indoor bowling sport – and latterly a bingo caller at Barlow Moor Community Centre, she was also an avid knitter, and when her daughters were little she would make them jumpers for Christmas with matching ones for their dolls.

Toffee Nanna and Les enjoyed a happy marriage and when he developed multiple sclerosis she became his full time carer and astounded nurses by her strength in lifting him when she was just a petite frame.

"This tiny lady was as strong as an ox with a determined heart," said Mandy. "When Les died in 1994 she was heartbroken but retained her tower of strength with the support of her large family."

Her funeral was held on Friday, May 15, at St John’s Church on High Lane in Chorlton.

Tweet