MEMBERS of Wilpshire Methodist Church have been paying their respects to a distinguished member of their congregation who died on Christmas Eve, aged 93.

Ethel Oldcorn, an accomplished musician who passed all of the Royal Academy of Music's piano exams, was deputy organist at the church for many years and a key member of the choir.

She also used to teach youngsters how to play the piano and her son Roger, who now lives in Surrey, said: "She took great delight in coaching those with musical talent and had great patience with those who were not so gifted." Ethel was also a member of Accrington and Blackburn CHA Rambling Club, which was where she met her husband Harold, a chief clerk in the old Blackburn Education Offices, who died in 1980.

She was made an honorary life member and loved nothing more than taking in the scenery of the Lake District, Scottish Highlands and Swiss and Austrian Alps.

She leaves Roger, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren and a brother, Harry O'Hare, from Feniscowles.