Bella Crowe, the legendary Arbroath pub owner who was a driving force behind the famous Foundry Bar Band making their first record, has died aged 84.
She ran the bar with husband Roy from 1979 to 1983 and helped the band produce and release their first album in 1981.
The Foundry Bar had always been known as a venue for traditional music and Bella did her best to encourage the band to widen its appeal.
Recognition
In later life she received an award from the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland for promoting local acts.
A fiercely patriotic Scot, Bella was also a great supporter of the RNLI, a prominent member of East Angus Conservative Association and, in later life, a generous supporter of a school in Burma.
She inherited her love of Scottish music from her father Charlie, who was a bothy singer.
Her early life with mother Jean, Charlie, and her five siblings was spent at the Birns, Carmyllie.
Travel ambition
She went to Carmyllie Primary School, followed by Morgan Academy, Dundee, before starting work in solicitors offices in Forfar and Kirriemuir but always had an ambition to see the world.
At the age of 19 she went to Paris to become a nanny to the family of a Frenchman attached to the diplomatic corps where she taught English as a foreign language.
Bella later returned to Forfar for a short period before starting work in the personnel department of Crosse and Blackwell in London at the start of the Swinging 60s.
Return north
However, despite the attractions of London, she yearned for home and returned to work at the then Bruce Hotel in Carnoustie.
There she became reacquainted with Roy, who she had previously met at the Marine Ballroom in Arbroath.
They married at East Kirk, Forfar, in April, 1965, set up home in Arbroath and their daughter, Caroll, was born in February, 1967.
Roy was a master in the Merchant Navy so Bella and Caroll were allowed to join him on voyages around the world.
Farfar Run
When he retired from the sea, the couple began their business career by taking over the Foundry Bar.
Bella was a welcoming host but also a firm one who did not suffer fools gladly. She was also a skilled exponent of the Farfar Run method of expelling unruly customers.
In 1983, Bella and Roy sold the Foundry and bought Colliston Inn and developed its reputation for good hospitality, entertainment and for running outside functions.
Bella’s cooking gained a reputation for quality and she soon branched out into outside catering.
Not long after they sold the Colliston and moved into early retirement, Roy died in 1993 and Bella Crowe moved into Arbroath and cultivated lasting friendships.
She also began travelling with the world with daughter, Caroll.
School supporter
Her favourite destination was in Kalaw, Myanmar (Burma) which she considered her second home.
She fell in love with the climate, the social life and the people and spent a considerable amount of money funding a school in Kalaw.
Over many years, Bella was a street and house-to-house collector for the RNLI, and a skilled knitter.
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