Tributes to Shirley Ann Samways from Trading Post Beaminster

Family, friends and loyal customers gathered at the Trading Post Café in Beaminster to celebrate the life of Shirley Ann Samways, who has died aged 88.

Shirley Ann Samways co-owned the Trading Post in Beaminster (Image: Helen Day) Shirley and her husband Robin opened the café on Hogshill in Beaminster 32 years ago and nurtured it through many incarnations and name changes to become the vegetarian eatery it is today.

After taking on the café, Shirley rekindled her early interest in art, which had been frustrated by the limitations on young women in the 1950s. Painting under her maiden name, Ann Day, she sold her lively free-flowing paintings there.

She loved to paint animals and scenes inspired by the beauty of nature. Shirley created a lovely garden at her home in Beaminster, including a wild area with bluebells and clouds of cow parsley bordered by a stream.

Over the years the garden was often opened for charity, and Shirley was delighted to win awards, including best wildlife garden at the Melplash Show in 2023.

Born in London, Shirley came to live in Evershot in the 1970s.

She took on Evershot Bakery with Robin in the 1980s and they had shops in Lyme Regis, Beaminster and Chard as well as a bakery round taking bread, including their famous malted cobbler loaf, to villages and farms far and wide.

Shirley Ann Samways (right) with husband Robin and youngest daughter Steffi (Image: Helen Day) She also promoted businesses in Beaminster with her support for the 'shop local' campaign.

The celebration was filled with flowers and cake, as those who dropped into the café remembered Shirley who mentored many young Saturday girls and always showed kindness to anyone going through hard times.

She was remembered for her long life as a practical and creative woman who her family said was ahead of her time. She is loved and will be much missed by her husband Robin and daughters Helen, Mel and Steffi.

Her daughter Helen Day fondly remembers her mum, saying: “She was always confident in expressing her opinion, more recently on social media, where she advocated and tried to gain support for a complete re-design of Beaminster Square to return it to the people, and to redirect cars into the town car park.

“She was such a remarkable woman and it was so lovely to see so many people in the community come out and share stories about her life. The café was also dressed in flowers which is what she would have wanted.

Shirley's husband Robin, with the selection of cakes he baked before the gathering to celebrate her life (Image: Helen Day) “It was a wonderful way to remember my mum. It was heart-warming to celebrate her life with her many friends in the town."