Great gran who fought for town loses final battle

A GREAT-grandmother has died days after being knocked down on the road close to her home.

Georgina Taylor, known as Ena, was a much-loved figure in Cockenzie and Port Seton where she taught generations of children to swim, helped establish a Girl Guides group and the town's first playgroup, enjoyed amateur dramatics and swam in the sea all year round.

The 84-year-old died on December 9, several days after an accident outside the Chalmers Memorial Church in Port Seton, where she had been a member of the congregation, and where her memorial service will be held on Monday.

She was well enough in hospital after the accident to hold her youngest great-grandson, Solomon, for the first time, but her condition later deteriorated.

Mrs Taylor was born on November 15, 1926 in Cockenzie to a long line of fisherfolk. She left the town to work as a children's nursemaid but became homesick and returned to work in the local Co-op, where she met and later married chemist Tom Taylor. The couple had six children, and, at the time of her death, Mrs Taylor had nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

She was a leading light in the Cockenzie Players, which had been started by her mother Isabella Doherty and local playwright James Hickie.

Mrs Taylor was also well known for her love of sea swimming, braving the water at the Boat Shore at Cockenzie both summer and winter for many years.

She worked every summer at the 1930s art deco outdoor swimming pool, The Pond, becoming assistant pond mistress in the 1980s.

She fought bitterly against its closure. She also worked as a swimming teacher and lifeguard at Tranent.

Her son, James Earl Taylor said she had been at the heart of her large family: "I always used to rely on my mum. She had a tremendous memory for birthdays and marriages, and the information was just there, it was like Googling it. She liked to get on with things and get things moving. She would be quite dedicated to whatever she was working with at the time."

He said her recent accident had occurred after she went to buy a newspaper close to her home: "I think she was just buying the paper and I think she seemed to stop and look in her bag, possibly for her sunglasses, because the sun was very bright. I don't blame the driver: he was proceeding as he would do in a car. It could happen to anybody."

Mr Taylor said the determination his mother had shown throughout her life was evident as she recuperated, and initially appeared to be making a good recovery: "Up until the accident she hadn't seen her youngest great grandchild, Solomon, and when we were in hospital two days after the accident, she was able to sit up in bed and she was determined she wanted to see him."