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NOËL WELCH
Born

Died		27 August 2017 (aged 96)

Partner 	Jeanne du Maurier

The poet Noël Welch died on 27th August 2017 at the age of 96.

Life
Noël was born in London and attended Parsons Mead School in Ashtead, Surrey. She graduated from St Hilda’s College, Oxford, in ////, and by xxx she was living in St Ives, where she had a studio for two years. NOTE

Check she graduated, provide link, and add her to their alumni list.

While she was living in St Ives, Noël published a collection of Ten Poems with the local Latin Press. She travelled in Europe and in Africa, and it was in Basutoland (now Lesotho) that she met up with Jeanne du Maurier and Dod Procter, two artists who were also based in St Ives. Jeanne was soon to become Noël’s partner, and in 1953 they moved to the village of Manaton on Dartmoor, where they lived for the rest of their lives.

Jeanne bought Half Moon in Manaton, a property combining three old cottages on one side of the village green, now in the ownership of the National Trust, where they shared their love of horse-riding. NOTE Noël continued to live there after Jeanne’s death in xxxx, and both women are now buried in the grounds.

Jeanne’s sister, the novelist Daphne du Maurier, initially found Noël rather ‘highbrow’ (59), but they became friends and later the three of them enjoyed a holiday together … NOTE Daphne gives a glimpse of darily life at Manaton in a letter written in 1956: she had been left in charge of Half Moon after Noël had been rushed to … for surgery following a horse bite ///  (p73) plus Dunn 324 ///QUOTE

''NOTE ‘I love horses,’ Noël wrote in 1973. ‘I know how a horse is going by the sound of its hoofs on the road.’ [ref CRev]''

In 1970 Daphne invited Noël and Jeanne to Kilmarth for Christmas, predicting that they would insist on talking about horses in front of her other guests (p254).

Noël lived on at Half Moon for many years after her partner’s death in xxx, keeping their simple but carefully planned house (which included Angela’s chapel), and their meticulously designed Marion garden, exactly as they were while her partner was alive. Both women are now buried in the grounds.

Writing
Throughout her life, Noël wrote poetry, which appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies. In 2006 she selected poems from her long writing career for a privately printed collection, ''A Shadow to its Tree. REFS''

NOTES

(1) List of Contributors, The Cornish Review, 24, Summer 1973, p84

PUBLICATIONS

Articles

‘The Du Mauriers’, The Cornish Review, 24, Summer 1973, pp7-18

‘Barbara Hepworth: A Personal View’, The Cornish Review, 25, pp23-32

Poetry

Ten Poems (1952), Crescendo Poetry Series, no 5, the Latin Press, St Ives

Witness (1963), Outposts Publications

A Shadow to its Tree and Other Poems (2006), Moor Print, Dartmoor, limited edition of 250 copies

Her poems have appeared in various collections, including New Poems 1961: a P.E.N. Anthology, and in magazines such as Outposts, Poetry Quarterly, New Poetry ... The poem ‘Kilmarth’, describing the home of Daphne du Maurier, was originally published in The Cornish Review, 24, Summer 1973, p6.

Best Poems of 1972: Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards 1973
Noël Welch won the Borestone Mountain Poetry Award in 1973 with her poem 'Advent' (Alison Oldham in PN Review), which appeared in Best Poems of 1972 and was reprinted in A Shadow to its Tree – but what about Noel’s Contributor reference to ''Best Poems of 1957 ? –'' can’t open an online copy to check who is included!

Daphne du Maurier: Letters from Menabilly, ed. Oriel Malet (1993; Orion Books, 1994)

Jane Dunn, Daphne du Maurier and her Sisters (2013; William Collins, 2014)

Margaret Forster, Daphne du Maurier (1993, Chatto & Windus)

NATIONAL TRUST – DOES IT HAVE NOEL’S LIBRARY &/OR COPIES OF HER POEMS?

KITS & UNI SPECIAL COLLECTIONS – DO THEY HAVE MORE ON/ FROM NOEL?

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