The Ramblers - Derbyshire Dales Group

Rosalie Treece

Died 2nd June 2010 aged 95 years.

Rosalie was a life-long member of the Ramblers Association and the National Trust. She was one of the founder members of our Derbyshire Dales Group. (It was known as the Matlock & Bakewell / West Derbyshire group in its early days). She also acted as secretary and vice-president for the Area.

Her family lived in Nottingham and her father was a solicitor and a freemason. After his death in 1917 the Freemasons looked after the education of Rosalie and her sister Sylvia. Rosalie attended the Masonic School at Rickmansworth and later the LSE. After a period of social work she spent the years of the Second World War as a smallholder at The Mount in Ockbrook.

Later she held a senior managerial position within the Children‟s (Health) Department of the Nottingham Social Services. During this time she spoke on various aspects of childcare on both radio and television. She was married twice but had no children of her own. She retired in 1969, moved to Alport and lost no time in getting active in the

area. One of the things she did was to help form our Derbyshire Dales group of Ramblers. Initially walks took place on Wednesdays usually starting from Bakewell Police Station where consolidated cars drove to the starting points and Sundays when there were 12/14 mile walks for „toughies‟.

Rosalie organised annual walking holidays away from Derbyshire – such as Coniston, Offa‟s Dyke, Selworthy, St.Davids and the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. She and her great friend Bea Dargavel would recce all the walks beforehand. She was a great organiser and was very good at getting other people involved as well; in fact, it has been said that Rosalie was a difficult woman to say “no‟ to. If she asked you to lead a walk, you ended up leading a walk!

As well as walking Rosalie had many leisure interests. Bridge parties were her forte and she put together bridge partners for evening entertainment. She also loved to travel, along with Bea, to such places as the Seychelles, China, Russia and on their return she would give talks about the trips to Luncheon Clubs and WIs. She also visited New Zealand. During her retirement she enjoyed painting and attended classes at Hathersage Hall and Middleton. She regularly attended the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies (NADFAS).

Rosalie always had an interest in the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and was the founder member of the local Bakewell Group of the U3A, often leading walks for them. More recently, not being able to walk anymore, Rosalie enjoyed “memory trips” out in Derbyshire, with the help of friends taking her out in their cars. She particularly liked to lunch at the Lathkill Hotel, Over Haddon, looking out over Youlgreave, her home place. A good friend Gary Bacon (Peak Park Ranger) would unlock the tunnel gates on the Monsal Trail and would take her in his Land Rover along the trail.

For the millennium, the Peak Park erected a wooden seat on the Monsal Trail at Millers Dale with Rosalie‟s inscription on it.

Nick Stephens

Thanks to Annie Wilson, George Wolfe, Sue Weatherley and others for helping with this compilation.

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