TRIBUTES have been paid to the former landlady of a Rushden pub whose life revolved around music.

Audrey Harris, 84, formerly Burnett, died peacefully on October 19 in a nursing home in East Sussex.

The former landlady of the Compasses Inn in Rushden will be remembered not only for being a teetotal landlady but also for her love of music and dancing.

Her daughter Caroline Hickingbotham said: "She was very well known in Rushden not only as a local landlady but for her music. She was a very kind and generous woman who will be truly missed by everyone who knew her."

Mrs Harris (nee Knight) was born in Rushden on December 16, 1924, the only child of Harvey and Evelyn Knight. As a young girl she trained as a concert pianist obtaining grade 8 piano in her teens and performed throughout Northamptonshire at small local concerts and reviews.

Her plans of going to Trinity College of Music were cut short by the onset of the Second World War, so after leaving school she did various jobs and ended up training as a GPO telephonist.

She joined the ATS in the war and continued playing piano in many dance bands, especially at the American Airforce bases around the county. When the war ended, she met and married Ronald Joseph Burnett and they moved to Bradford, but they settled in Rushden after Audrey became homesick. In 1951, they had a daughter, Caroline.

The couple were landlord and landlady of the Compasses Inn throughout the 1960s and 70s until Ron's early death in 1977. Mrs Harris left the pub a year later and took up piano and organ teaching.

Following her parents' deaths she met and married widower William Harris and they were happily married for 11 years until his death in 2003. He was a locally known amateur artist and they both belonged to Rushden Art Society.

Mrs Harris was still teaching music at the age of 80, but in 2004 her health started to deteriorate and she moved to East Sussex to be near her daughter and family. She leaves daughter Caroline, grandchildren Charlotte, Emma and Matthew, and great-grand-children Harrison and Cole.

Her funeral and cremation will take place on November 2 in East Sussex, but her ashes will be scattered at Rushden Cemetery.