TrustNews Mar 20

Shione Carden

 

As many of you will now know, Shione Carden died on the 4th of February. She had been taken to Winchester hospital with severe pain in her right hip and gradual loss of consciousness, and was quickly transferred to intensive care at Basingstoke Hospital where she died of sepsis without regaining consciousness.

 

Shione was born in India in 1934, her father having an appointment there as an engineer. The family returned to Northern Ireland on the outbreak of war and she spent her early years there before her father accepted an appointment in Derby where she completed her education. She then went to London and worked in the Foreign Office; it was during this time that she met Michael whom she married in 1957 in his final year as a student. Five years later they moved to Reigate after starting a family and then to Winchester in 1967 where Michael joined the Carpenter-Turner Architectural Practice, which became Burford, Marlow and Carden, and eventually the Radley House Partnership.

 

Shione became steeped in both architecture and Winchester which, of course, meant that she was an ideal candidate for the then Winchester Preservation Trust. Once Shione’s children left home she decided to take a degree in environmental science, travelling to East Africa as part of her research - Michael acting as bagman. As a result of her studies, as many of you will know, Shione was both knowledgeable and very concerned about environmental issues.

 

As a member of the Trust, Shione discovered that an important strand of our work was examining planning applications and commenting on the design implications. She also recognised that the system in place was not very efficient, so she bravely undertook to reorganise the system, not an easy task when it involves so many people. The system we have in place today is Shione’s and it is due to her that the comments are respected and have an impact on decision making by the Local Authority.

 

Thank you Shione tor making your talents available to the Trust, it has been a tough job to follow your lead, and we shall all miss you.

 

Keith Leaman