SITE NAVIGATION The Strutts in Belper East Lodge Links with Pawtucket Where is Belper anyway ? Late 18th Century Gerry's page Linda's page

Born in Wimbledon, London SW19, in the late 40s, a few years after the end of World War II, Linda Knight ( nee Randall )( name anagram "Hadn't an inkling" ) grew up showing the talents which were to form her later life; a lover of animals and insects, gardening and considerable artistic talent. As a young girl she spent time helping her grandparents in the garden and collecting insects which she kept in her bedroom much to her mother's consternation. Her family could not keep large pets since they lived in a small flat, but her collection included white mice, a budgerigar, an antery and various jars of insects. Even as a youngster Linda had a special way with animals.

Linda wanted to be a vet but her family could not afford to pay for the training, instead she grew to be "the animals' friend", always there to try to mend a wing, remove a thorn from a paw or just give care. She even caught a polecat-ferret in the street and rescued a pipistrelle bat from her bedroom. She eventually had a small-holding where she kept goats, horses, chickens and bees,

After her son left home she had more spare time and began to re-discover and develop her talents for poetry and painting and gave several local talks on her life. It is a strange connection with East Lodge, Belper, that Jedediah's daughters Elizabeth and Martha were both accomplished poets, and another, that Gerry's favorite painter, Turner, was painting on the Isle of Wight (where Linda and Gerry lived) in 1795 when East Lodge was built. Linda has presented one poem on the page "East Lodge" and other examples of her poetry and pictures are given below. "A prickly problem" was written after a painful episode cleaning out the greenhouse which housed her husband's cacti collection, "Galloping free" was inspired by her love of horses. Linda has produced a CD of her poetry and stories.

Linda is an accomplished gardener. Her prize-winning East Lodge garden (Best Residential Garden in East Midlands, 2002) is shown on the linked page "Links with Pawtucket", and is also featured on the BBC Video Nation.
Winter.
Spring.
Summer.
Autumn.

You may have to select "play in standalone player" on the BBC player for these old recordings.

In her early forties Linda was having trouble with her eysight and was devastated to find she had Glaucoma, a hereditary eye problem. By then she had lost some sight but a successful operation on both eyes has stabilised the deterioration.

Click on picture to enlarge.

© All paintings Copyright Linda Knight ( L A Knight ) 2000-2012