A WOMAN from Heswall who volunteered for the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port for 50 years has been given a special send-off by the team.
Diana Skilbeck MBE was born in November 1942. Her father was a local police sergeant, who died when she was 13, and her mother Elsie is recorded on her birth certificate as a shipwright.
She was a pupil at Wirral Grammar School for Girls, before training as a teacher in London.
In 2012 she was awarded an MBE for Services to Heritage, in 2015 the University of Chester presented her with an Honorary Master of Art degree from for her outstanding contribution to heritage and education and in 2016 she won a Canal & River Trust Outstanding Achievement Award.
On Monday (April 3) Diana Skilbeck MBE's coffin was transported on a historic working boat, Gifford, which she had once helped to save and restore.
In recognition of her 50-year contribution, HM King Charles sent a letter of condolence from Buckingham Palace to say he was sorry to hear of the death of Diana Skilbeck MBE and offered his sincere sympathy and very best wishes to the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port.
He described her role as an early volunteer at the Boat Museum as "inspirational."
After a memorial service at her local Holy Cross Church at Woodchurch on the Wirral, the coffin was taken from the hearse and transported by boat along the Shropshire Union Canal for a short distance before a cremation at Blacon Crematorium.
Diana Skilbeck, known as Di, had been volunteering at the museum site since the 1970s and is one of the band of enthusiasts who rescued the derelict port and transformed it into a national home for the UK’s historic boat and waterways collection.
'She will be greatly missed'
Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, said: "Di Skilbeck MBE has been a passionate waterways supporter for half a century and she has given so much to them in that time; her record of achievements is remarkable.
"Her passion for local history and the canal network placed her at the centre of the ambitious work to restore the derelict Ellesmere Port and as a founder of the museum society. Since then, she has served tirelessly as a volunteer in a range of leadership roles that have made such a vital impact on the Waterways Museum, its historic boats and the wider collection of artifacts.
"As a retired schoolteacher and head mistress, Di had a natural gift for sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with adults and children alike. Always a source of generosity and good humour, she will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Everyone who today shares Di’s passion for our working canal network owes her a debt of gratitude - a great lady and a giant of the waterways."
The Canal & River Trust charity, which runs the National Waterways Museum, will be hosting a special memorial service celebrating her life on Saturday, April 7 at 9am, as part of the Easter Boat Gathering Festival over the bank holiday weekend.
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