Second World War evacuee who ran Shrewsbury pub for 30 years to be laid to rest

Doreen Bunce, who died on July 27, ran the Bricklayers Arms in Copthorne for around 30 years having taken over in 1956.

The mother of two, grandmother to eight, and great-grandmother to five, had arrived in Shrewsbury after the Second World War.

Doreen's daughter, Pauline Cheney, said her mother moved to Belgium from Canada in 1931 and then had to be evacuated during the Second World War.

"It was a five-day journey from Ypres in Belgium to Calais. On the way they had to shelter in ditches to avoid machine gun fire," she said.

"Doreen eventually ended up in Shrewsbury where she met her future husband, Arnold Bunce, who died in the early 90s."

After marrying in 1946, the Bunces took over the Bricklayers Arms a decade later, and ran the pub for another 30 years.

"My dad was quite strict," recalled Pauline. "He wouldn't let men swear if there was a lady in the pub, but they were a popular couple.

"Mum would work in the evenings. She wasn't a Bet Lynch type of landlady as she was more refined with a good Catholic upbringing, but she would speak a lot about her time during the war.

"It was a really local pub. I have fond memories of it as growing up there was a bit different to how my friends grew up. My sister Vicky was also born there."

Pauline said that Doreen would be laid to rest this week at a simple cremation.

Anybody that wishes to send flowers should instead send a donation to one of Doreen's favourite charities, the type 1 diabetes charity JDRF and Hope House Children's Hospice.