In the early days on Bristol University weekend walks, Ann and John and Joy and I were regular participants. Joy and I well remember that Ann looked after John by ensuring that, if he felt faint, there was an inexhaustible supply of Kendal Mint Cake available to ensure his "recovery" - - we often wondered if she had shares in the company producing said article.

Ann was very sporty and in early middle age would take on at squash any of the young PhD students or Postdoctoral Fellows in the Organic Geochemistry Unit brave enough to challenge her. Needless to say, she beat nearly all of them!

At an international conference in Venice in the 1980s, the Organic Geochemistry Unit wanted to make a splash by way of a goodly number of presentations, so a few of our PhD students and Postdoctoral Fellows were chosen to attend. To ensure that they "behaved themselves", Ann was in charge of them, looked after them like a mother hen and dished out spending money in local currency in job lots to make sure they didn't imbibe too much!

James Maxwell, Former Head of the Organic Geochemistry Unit, University of Bristol.