THE death of poet UA Fanthorpe has left the town of Wotton-under-Edge filled with sadness for the loss of a gentle, thoughtful and generous soul whose passing will leave a void difficult to fill.

Ursula Askham Fanthorpe, known to all as UA, had lived in Wotton for 35 years together with her partner of 44 years, historian, poet and illustrator Rosie Bailey, who said this week that despite her international acclaim, literary plaudits and world-wide travels the place UA longed most to be was at home in Wotton.

"She had a huge affection for Wotton, for the town itself, the people in the shops and the landscape," said Rosie. "She felt that Wotton was such a democratic place and that the aristocracy were the people who had lived here all their lives."

And the people of Wotton-under-Edge loved UA right back.

Emily Thwaite, the Gazette’s arts editor and long-time friend of UA and Rosie, said: "Some people in Wotton may not have realised they had a 'national treasure' in their midst. UA just knew people, with a genuine, gentle interest, from the florists to the greengrocers - many thought of her as simply a 'lovely lady'.

"She was a regular supporter of the historic Friday market, the local panto, our community summer plays and, in the year I came to Wotton, she presented a poetry prize to a proud seven year old boy (now at university).

"UA and Rosie were both wonderfully supportive when we were setting up and establishing Under the Edge Arts, both giving lively poetry readings as well as enthusiasm and funds.

"She also encouraged new poets from this area - Emily Wills, David Ashbee and Sheila Simmons.

"Her quiet Quaker faith helps me believe she is now part of the intricate eternal 'web spun by dead and living round Wotton' that she wrote about in her poem, Wotton Walks."

Angela Brewer, a former pupil at Cheltenham Ladies College, said: "I think she was the only teacher who taught me something beyond subject matter."

The daughter of a junior barrister, UA was born at Lee Green, south-east London on July 22, 1929. During the war she was sent to boarding school in Surrey and went on to study at St Anne’s College, Oxford before becoming a teacher at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, where she was later appointed head of English.

She said of her appointment: "I began to see that power had an effect on me that I didn’t like," and she resigned after eight years in the post.

After a number of modest jobs as a typist she became a records clerk at Burden neurological hospital in Bristol, an experience which was to lead, at the age of almost 50, to her first collection of poems, Side Effects, published by Peterloo Poets in 1978.

In 1989, after four published volumes of poetry, she left her hospital job to write poetry full time.

Her publisher at Peterloo, Harry Chambers, described her this week as a totally original poet who could make you both laugh and cry, sometimes in the same poem.

In 2001 she was awarded the CBE for services to literature and in 2003 she was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry.

"Although she was thrilled, she didn’t expect any of it, she was utterly unpretentious," said Rosie. "Her audiences felt they knew her and she took a huge interest in everyone she met.

"She was interested in the marginal people, the cleaners, the people behind the scenes who are often missed out but on whom things depend."

A serious contender for the post of Poet Laureate on the death of Ted Hughes in 1998, eventually awarded to Andrew Motion, UA said she was more than happy with his appointment.

"Andrew’s worked so hard," she said, "and I haven’t got that much energy left in me."

Rosie said that UA would have been thrilled with this week’s appointment to the laureate’s post of Carol Ann Duffy. "She was an old friend and they were on the same wavelengths."

Before her death in a hospice just short of her 80th birthday, UA had planned two further volumes of poetry, the next to be called But.

"As the daughter of a lawyer, she could see both sides of every argument," said Rosie. "She was quite balanced and she said a lot of serious things in funny ways."

Of her passing, Rosie said: "She was tremendously brave, but as she said in one of her poems, ‘Nothing makes extinction easy.’"

Abiding memories of all who knew UA Fanthorpe were summed up by Rosie: "She was warm, witty, wise and such fun to be with."

* There will be a Quaker funeral at the Friends Meeting House in Nailsworth on Tuesday, May 12 at 2pm, followed by a private burial at Wotton Cemetery.

A memorial service is to be arranged at a later date.