Harold Jenkins – ringer and past tower captain at Broadwindsor – died peacefully in his sleep at home on Saturday, 14th January.
As well as spending many hours ringing the church bells, Harold & his wife Margaret operated as First Responders for several years within their community. Harold was also a judge for many photographic competitions including The Melplash Show.
Ringers of the West Dorset Branch rang a quarter peal in Broadwindsor in his memory on the 12th April and afterwards were treated to tea with Margaret and their family.
The following tribute kindly written by Margaret.
HAROLD THOMAS FRICKER JENKINS Born 16 January 1940 in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
An extremely shy and private person, typical Capricorn: slow to anger but really mad if he was upset.
We met when we were 16, then married at 22 and immediately went on a posting with Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service, to Brussels, at the Common Market Delegation, until four months later General De Gaul said “Non” to UK entry and the Delegation closed.
Then came four years in Rangoon, Burma, where Elizabeth and Nicholas were born. Following that came a two and a half year posting to NewYork at the British Delegation to the United Nations.
After a three year home posting the children went to boarding school and we went to Bombay, India.
The next move was another visit to the USA. This time to Washington D.C. This was our favourite posting.
A four year home posting came next, with Harold rising to the head of the East Africa Department. A part of this entailed visiting the refugee camps in Ethiopia. He was very glad to return home!
Dar es Salaam in Tanzania was the next postnot a favourite but it had its moments.
The last accompanied posting was to Kathmandu, Nepal, where he was Vice Consul and Head of Management with a staff of 50. Harold was involved with the aftermath of two air crashes that happened within six weeks of each other. It was a harrowing experience for both the Embassy staff and their wives.
Returning to the UK in 1994 we returned to Surrey before finding our present house. After a spell of immigration officer duties at Heathrow Airport, Harold was asked to go to Kiev (as it was then), to Bucharest and then to Paris, each on special assignments. These three month assignments left Margaret at home to run the B&B, tend the garden and the allotment. A complaint about weeds was not well received!
Harold lived happily at Broadwindsor for twenty six and a half years, where he spent many hours ringing the church bells.
