Peg was born Joan Audrey Powell on 19 January 1919 in Kilburn, London. Her grandmother didn’t like either of her given names and insisted on calling her Peg or Peggy… and it has been this to all ever since.
She moved to Alton with her family in 1930. A clever dress designer/maker working locally, she was also keen on amateur dramatics… and it was there that she fell under the spell of her husband-to-be, Edwin Meadows… who was forever known as Whisk due to the moustache that he began sporting whilst in the RAF.
They married in 1940 and opened Meadows Radio and Electrical shop in Lenten Street in 1945. There they traded until 1979 when Whisk was killed at the age of 73 in a freak train accident whilst taking Peg on a surprise holiday to Portugal. Whilst Whisk was a keen photographer and photographic judge… who would also contribute amusing rhyming poetry to the Alton Herald… he was a reluctant retailer and it was Peg who built a reputation for the business with her vast and well chosen selection of lampshades, for which people would travel from far and wide. She continued with the shop until eventually retiring in 1987.
She was always very active locally being President several times of both The Business and Professional Women’s Association and The Inner Wheel. Still living next door to the original shop premises in Lenten Street, she was fiercely independent and lived on her own right up until her passing. As a widow, she travelled widely throughout the world and was an active fund-raiser and supporter of several charities. She embraced technology in her ’90’s and as a keen Scrabble and Words player, she would ‘do battle’ on her iPad with up to 40 other players at the same time around the world.
At the age of 95, we believe she was the oldest person in Britain to undergo an advanced type of heart operation (TAVI). She was mentally super-sharp until the end; celebrating her 100th birthday this January with a large number of friends and family at Chawton House. However, her health declined steadily after her party and she died peacefully at home in the early morning of Monday, 29 April. She was hugely popular and much loved. Her wit, wisdom and joie de vivre will be sorely missed by all who knew her.