Judith has played second oboe more or less since the orchestra began. She was head-hunted by Jo O'Reilly (who are you kidding!) from Mountfields Orchestra shortly after it closed. She remembers the long hot summers when rehearsals finished early so that (nearly) everyone could swim in the Rawlins pool, then uncovered , and cook sausages.

Judith is a retired Biology teacher and Head of Sixth Form in Nottingham. She says "the best thing about retirement is being able to switch my day to its natural owl rhythm. I go to bed between 2.30 and 3.00am and then get up about 9.30 having read for an hour in bed."

She used to play regularly in several orchestras but the promotion ladder eventually got in the way. However, she does play cor anglais in the little band that plays for the annual village panto as well as occasional chamber music.

Hobbies are many and varied but include DIY (especially at the top of tall ladders), vegetable gardening, walking, camping and all manner of community involvements.

Husband David used to play flute in what was then Quorn Orchestra but he gave up when the children's musical skills overtook his. Judith is gratified that son Jeremy, now 38, has taken up his French horn again, that granddaughter 1 has just started the oboe, that daughter Penny has returned to her cello and that granddaughter 3 has begun the violin.
She thinks there isn't much hope that son Nick (who once used to lead the school orchestra) will return to his violin. "All you can do is try".