Dusty

[jsmith]

Wow, I didn't know that Dusty's grave was in St Mary's Church graveyard [[though it makes sense that it would be as she only lived round the corner from the place).
It is a very beautiful church with a long history. It is around 1000 years old but has been extended / modified down the centuries. I only live a few miles away, so will have to visit her grave in the near future.
A RELATED STORY ... Around 20 years ago, Cleveland soul singer Cleveland Robinson was keen to connect with his many UK fans in some way [[& to set up a link with a UK reissue label if possible). Cleveland was quite old and chose not to make the tiring trip to the UK himself. So his son [[also a recording artist) & his son's old friend John Wilson [[of Sly, Slick & Wicked) came over here. I picked them up from London Gatwick airport and as we drove back to my home in Oxfordshire, they both expressed an interest in seeing 'a bit of history'. It was early in the morning [[so less traffic / parking attendants about), so I made a few stops for them. First we called in Windsor & parked up by Windsor Castle [[can't remember if the Queen was in residence at the time). They liked that but wanted to see more. The next place of significance on our journey to my house was Henley. They liked the view of the river as we crossed the old road bridge [[ I slowed right down to allow them to see things better) & next St Mary's Church came into view. They both asked me to stop to allow them to visit it, so I parked up along the street. Much of the church's walls are constructed with flint, a crystaline form of quartz, which is split in two & the exposed crystal side used to face the walls. This impressed them but it was the age of the building that really fascinated both. They had never been in a building much over 200 years old before in their lives & the fact that parts of the church were 1000 years old impressed them. They also really likes the stained glass picture windows & the interior roof finish. All in all, the journey to my home made a big impression on them.

[jsmith]

My wife just told me a related story. She was head receptionist at County Hall in Oxford at the time Dusty passed. Henley is in Oxfordshire, so the local politician for the area had got to know Dusty down the years. He was invited to her funeral but as the church is small & interest in the funeral was massive at the time, only invited guests could attend the actual service inside the church. INDEED, the actual day / time of the funeral was kept as secret as possible to avoid traffic chaos in the town & to discourage fans from just turning up to view the proceedings.
As my wife knew the politician in question, he told her all the details, so she could be outside the church at the relevant time if she wanted to be. But as both I & she were working that day [[I would have had to act as her driver to get to Henley), she / we didn't go along.
I used to work in the Henley area a bit back then & had always wanted to just turn up at her door & knock to see if she was in. BUT Dusty was a very private person & didn't like fans just turning up & knocking on her door ... so though I knew which house was hers, I never did pluck up the courage to disturb her at home.

[MIKEW-UK]

Presumably you know the Angel by Henley bridge extremely well?

[jsmith]

Mike, always used to eat there when on the way to Heathrow to catch a plane.