Bryda (Katherine Bridget) Westby

Philip Ray-Jones:

He remembered the 137 bus which went to Oxford Circus. Edmund and Bryda campaigned for it to go to Sloane Square , and in the end they got their way. He lived in 2 Simon Street in part of Bryda's flat (one of the top two floors) for a year with Tony and Terry Hall - this was after his divorce. Edmund had died and she had spare space. She invented things, eg a powder compact on top of a walking stick, but it never took off. She wrote poetry which wasn't very good. She was strongly socialist but her socialism never seemed to match her style of living - shopping at Harrods, and her children went to Eton. Her income (perhaps Edmund's money) came from cotton plantations in Egypt, and the Suez crisis hit them hard. She was very bossy, particularly with Ashley, living in 21 (?) Hugh Street, next door to a brothel. Her tea parties were very swanky but there wasn't much room around the table. Also she tried to dominate Gery, which didn't go down well.