A family has bid farewell to a stalwart of Hadleigh, a beloved pub landlady who sang for the troops during the war, and kept her sparkle until the day she died, aged 100.
Many will remember Hazel Biggs from her days at The George in Hadleigh High Street, which she ran for many years with her husband, Sidney.
Hazel was born in Guildford, Surrey, to parents Daisy and Bert on March 15, 1923. The family moved to Suffolk when Hazel was young, with she and her sister growing up in Timworth, near Bury St Edmunds.
At 13, Hazel contracted rheumatic fever and had to leave school. She was unwell for more than a year, but was lucky enough to make a full recovery, explained her daughter, Dorinda Bowers.
When she had regained her strength, Hazel found work as a chambermaid in Culford. However, she was itching to see more of the world.
Aged 17 and working in the Observer Corps, Hazel happened to see an RAF promotional film showing the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAFs) waiting on airmen. Transfixed by the glamour the film promised, Hazel decided to join up, advancing her age by six months at the recruitment office.
Waitressing for the RAF was a far-cry from the life Hazel had imagined. The WAAF quarters were surrounded with barbed wire, and she soon found herself peeling mountains of potatoes and sprouts and serving slabs of dried egg.
Hazel’s true passion was keeping the troops entertained.
Accompanied by a band, she would sing for the soldiers into the night, keeping their spirits high. Her great claim to fame was sharing the stage with comedian Tony Hancock one year during the Christmas pantomime.
While waitressing in Weston-super-Mare, Hazel met her future husband, Sidney, who was serving in the RAF.
“Before him, Mum had been engaged twice. Dad used to say that he didn’t want to be another fiancé, so they just got married,” laughed Dorinda.
The couple tied the knot in 1943. Although the war was still raging, Hazel was determined to have a white wedding and sold her record player, her collection of jazz records and her bicycle to afford enough lace for her dress, while her mother saved clothing coupons for the bridesmaids.
Dorinda was born the following year, and her younger brother Dennis soon followed.
Sidney stayed in the Air Force until 1960, and the family spent the next few years travelling. As a child in Suez at the time of the crisis, Dennis remembers stones and once, a hand grenade being thrown at their school bus.
Hazel’s third child, Janet, was born in Germany. Her youngest child, Andrew, was born in Wallesey in Cheshire, where the family were living after Sidney retired from service.
In 1962, they returned to Suffolk after the death of Hazel’s mother, and she and Sidney took on their first pub, the Higham Lamb.
They later moved to the Bennet Arms in Rougham, and finally to The George in Hadleigh.
Working in hospitality suited the couple down to the ground. Sidney was a gregarious host, while Hazel filled the menu with her delicious cooking.
Dorinda recalls a family story from their years at The George, when her father had a heart attack.
“He was being carried out of the pub on a stretcher, and we all thought he was dying,” she said. “Then he suddenly shouted, ‘Don’t let Hazel have the chequebook!’”
After Hazel and Sidney retired, they couldn’t quite leave hospitality behind them. Janet and husband Alan took on The White Horse at Hitcham and Sidney would help out behind the bar. When they moved to Hadleigh High Street after Sidney's death, Hazel moved with them to their Granny annex and would waitress at their restaurant, Katie’s.
“She really liked meeting people, and enjoyed flirting with the customers even when she was in her 70s,” said Dorinda.
Hazel was also an accomplished seamstress and would often take home the dolls at her local Sue Ryder charity shop. She would make intricate wedding dresses for the dolls, to the delight of many little girls in the community.
In the last few years of her life, Hazel was diagnosed with dementia and moved into the Sydney Brown Court assisted living in Hadleigh.
“Her memory went, but she was always still Mum,” said Dorinda. “She was funny right to the end, which is how we’ll remember her.”
She celebrated her 100th birthday in March, surrounded by her family.
Hazel died on October 5, aged 100. She is survived by her four children, seven grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
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