At the theatre in Bromley where both were engaged in a production Jan was entranced by music being played by Paddy, so beginning their 60-year relationship. Both were highly individualistic characters and moderately successful in their careers in the theatre.

After several years of touring, Jan worked for the Delfont organisation, then the pre-eminent production company in Britain, and hobnobbed with well-known actors, musicians and comedians of the 1960s. I imagine that she would have been completely unfazed by stardom. Paddy meanwhile was sometime manager of the Mercury theatre and taking touring productions around the country.

They settled in London, buying a house in Chiswick which I remember as a hive of creative activity, with the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band practising in the basement and lively suppers of Jan's speciality spaghetti Bolognese around the splendid dining table which followed them to all the successive homes they had.

Paddy and Jan moved to the Westcountry at the end of the 1960s, buying run down properties which they would do up and sell on, making a little profit each time. One less successful project was a pub near Crediton where each in their own indomitable way was able to demonstrate that work and pleasure combined led to disaster!

The benign little old gentleman who used to walk Milly around Littlehempston had a multi-faceted past, including a criminal conviction. On being presented with a tax demand by a lady representative of HMRC, Paddy scrunched it into a ball and thrust in into her open and ample bosom, telling her in no uncertain terms to get off his property. For this, he was charged with assault. After the hearing when he pleaded guilty, Paddy crossed the courtroom and kissed the lady in front of the magistrates, demonstrating no hard feelings. That exploit made the Daily Telegraph.

At a house Paddy and Jan had in Ashburton I lived on the top floor with my daughter Melanie. At this time Paddy had bought the rights to the Sooty and Sweep show; unlikely but true, and a move that made them a living for many years, with Paddy touring the show as far afield as South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

By 1980 Paddy and Jan had moved back to Parkhill to assist Paddy's father Bob Grant. There followed a long period of difficulty and insecurity when Bob unexpectedly, and contrary to promises made, left the bulk of his estate to an unscrupulous woman who had entrapped him. Obtaining redress took its toll on Paddy and Jan's health and equilibrium.

In retirement Paddy and Jan created the marvellous rhododendron and azalea garden behind the house and Jan found time to act as the parish clerk for several years.

There was a small party for Paddy's 90th birthday in 2014. Thereafter his health deteriorated and he was confined to his bedroom. There he would look out over the village he loved and muse on the 100ft-plus Norway spruce he had planted after use as a Xmas tree in 1946.