Powys Society Newsletter 88

Obituaries
Ken Hester (1934-2015)
Elizabeth Davey writes
Ken Hester joined the Powys Society in the 1980s. It was through the Society that
he became acquainted with Frederick Davies*, whom he subsequently visited
regularly, until Frederick’s death in 1990.
Ken did not attend many events but I do remember him talking about meeting
Naomi Mitchison** at one of the conferences – she had come down from Scotland
where she lived not far from my parents. They seem to have chatted about places they
both knew, as well as the Dragon School***,
to which my mother had gone some years
after Naomi.
Ken was an unlikely member of the Powys
Society. Born in south-east London, he had
already begun to attend the local Council
School in Forest Hill, when the order for
evacuation came in late August, 1939. Not
quite five, he and his two older brothers were
evacuated to Redhill in Surrey. Initially the
brothers were kept together, but their first
hostess died and they were sent their separate
ways, Ken to a children’s home, a harsh
experience that coloured the rest of his life.
The war disrupted his education — he gained
no formal qualifications but nothing held him
back. When still very young he developed a
love of literature and classical music which
sustained him all his life. His great passions
were Beethoven and Schubert, in particular
Beethoven’s string quartets and Schubert’s Lieder. He must have possessed almost
every recording of Winterreise that existed. Others of his interests included walking
and the natural environment – he became a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
and could also name every wild-flower and tree he encountered.
Always good with his hands, he was a skilled joiner, and when no more able to go
on his long walks (he developed a muscle wasting disease) he turned his attention to
making bird tables and nesting boxes for charity.
Eventually totally confined to his wheelchair, he never lost his enthusiasm for
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