Zena Waugh
Zena Mary Waugh Zena acquired and ran a General Dealers/Grocery and Haberdashery store at 66 High Street (next door to Sweeting’s butchers), a business which she bought from her uncle Wilson Bell in 1956, when she was 40 and went on to serve the West Cornforth community in this role for 30 years when she reluctantly succombed to retirement. Zena had considerable experience in retail business from being a young woman both prior to, during, and after the second world war. She had worked in Durham City for Liptons and became a “peripatetic” manager, often required to travel far by bus from her home in Spennymoor to provide branch cover at short notice. On many occasions, when posted to e.g. Consett she would find that at close of business, after travelling back to Durham (the bus hub) she had missed the last bus home to Spennymoor and would then face a 6 mile walk home. Zena was what we like to call today , a “people person”. She loved nothing more than to meet, mix and talk with people, every day of her life. She was a very positive person who would always challenge pessimism. Her attitude in all situations was remarkably stoical –a case of “everything happens for a reason and it will all work out in the end”. Zena always had a smile and a kindly welcome for her customers. She finally retired, back to Spennymoor, to enjoy her beloved dogs until her death in 2003.
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