Tributes for former nurse who trained at the dawn of the NHS and looked after people with disabilities and long-term illness in Leamington

The family of a former nurse who trained at the dawn of the NHS has paid tribute to her memory following her death last week.

A descendent of Lord and Lady Avern of Warwickshire, Olive Leighton was born in Solihull on November 18, 1934.

Despite frequent visits to the local air raid shelter - and an incident which saw the Luftwaffe narrowly miss the side of her family's Bentley Heath home, she recalled a happy childhood - full of jam making and playing in the countryside.

Father Eric Leighton served as a Captain in the First World War, later working as an engineer and then a police officer.

Mother Kate 'Kitty' Leighton served in the Land Army during the war, winning a medal after saving the life of a young boy who found himself in the path of a runaway farm horse.

Aged 18, Olive began training as a nurse at Dudley Road Hospital in 1952 - just four years after the formation of the NHS.

Olive became convinced of the existence of ghosts while on a night shift at the hospital when she witnessed a woman in a long, grey gown floating along a ward late one night - a sighting many of her colleagues had previously reported.

With some brief time spent in other careers, including being an expert seamstress, Olive would continue to work as a nurse up until the 1980s - eventually caring for people at 'Guys', a home for the disabled and those with long-term illnesses in Leamington.

For many years Olive lived on a farm on Walsal End Lane, near Solihull, with husband Paschal and children Patricia, Eric and Linda.

Many still have fond memories of the parties she would throw at the farm every year, complete with a bonfire and an array of food.

A keen rescuer of any injured animal she came across, Olive and the family cared for a sheep which had been rejected by its mother, naming her Dusty and looking after her on the farm.

Olive also recused a magpie which she found severely injured on the side of the road while she drove home from work.

The magpie was nursed back to health and had an aviary built for him.

Named Oggy, the magpie went on happily for many years - developing a knack for imitating the sound of the back door being unlatched, and becoming proficient at banging on the kitchen window with his beak every morning to summon a plate of food.

Olive loved art, especially the work of Constable, and she was a keen painter in watercolour and oil for many years.

She also loved poetry, and could recite her favourites from memory.

A keen reader and solver of crossword puzzles, in later life Olive passed Mensa's entry test and became a member.

Despite travelling across the world on cruises, Olive's first choice of holiday was always Wales.

Her grandparents had owned a farm in south Wales which Olive had spent many a happy childhood day on - and in later years Olive had a holiday home near Welshpool.

She learned much about Welsh history and folklore from her grandmother, and Olive continued to treasure that knowledge through her life.

In retirement the great-grandmother lived in Solihull and then Bishops Itchington, before moving back to Solihull, where she enjoyed her last years devouring books and spending time with family.

Olive is remembered as a kind, caring woman who would be called on by friends and neighbours wherever she lived for help and advice - and when one neighbour went into labour late one night she rushed to help.

On the morning of Monday, September 27, Olive died peacefully in her home.

Her family said that, if there is an afterlife, she will now be found dancing on the beach with husband Paschal and daughter Linda.