Baroness Masham, who was a the longest-serving female member of the House of Lords ever, Paralympian medallist and disability rights campaigner, has died aged 87.
She died peacefully in hospital in Northallerton on Sunday.
Born Susan Sinclair on April 14, 1935, she became a wheelchair user after injuring her spinal cord in a riding accident in 1958.
In 1959 she married David Cunliffe-Lister, who became Earl of Swinton in 1972, to become Lady Masham.
She served as a cross-bench peer for 53 years after becoming Baroness Masham of Ilton in 1970.
Baroness Masham was the aunt of Mark Cunliffe-Lister, the 4th Earl of Swinton and husband of Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, who was elected as a Liberal Democrat to the Masham and Fountains division on North Yorkshire County Council this year in a by-election caused by the death of Conservative councillor Margaret Atkinson.
Baroness Masham won medals in swimming and table tennis at the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Paralympic games.
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In 1974 she founded the Spinal Injuries Association and remained its president until her death.
The association, which announced her death today, said it was “devastated to have lost our greatest champion”, adding she was “the reason we have been able to champion, fight, serve and support thousands of spinal cord injured people”.
Baroness Masham was the subject of an episode of This Is Your Life in 1976.
She belonged to various parliamentary committees and last spoke in the House of Lords on February 2 this year.
Guy Tweedy, a Harrogate thalidomide campaigner and trustee of Disability Action Yorkshire who met Baroness Masham many times, said:
“Baroness Masham was a formidable woman. She was a trailblazer for disability rights, along with Lord Morris of Manchester and Baron Ashley of Stoke.
“Without the work of those three we wouldn’t be where we are today with disability rights.”
Stray trees vandalism: Harrogate man offers to pay for new ones
Harrogate businessman Guy Tweedy has offered to pay for new trees on the Stray to replace the ones vandalised.
The Stray Ferret published a video last week showing teenagers ripping up two young trees.
They were part of a batch of 55 cherry trees paid for by Mr Tweedy to commemorate thalidomide victims, two babies and a local headteacher. They were planted six or seven years ago.
Mr Tweedy, who is also a thalidomide campaigner, has emailed Harrogate Borough Council offering to pay for replacement trees. He said:
“I wonder if whoever did this realises the significance of the trees and how upsetting it is to people.
“Sadly this is not the first time this has happened. How do we stop people from doing it? I don’t know what the answer is.”
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Harrogate Thalidomide campaigner lays wreath 60 years on
Harrogate Thalidomide campaigner Guy Tweedy has laid a wreath to pay tribute to victims of the morning sickness ‘wonder drug’.
Mr Tweedy placed the wreath at the foot of a copper beech tree planted on the Harrogate’s Montpellier Hill in 2012.
The tree was the UK’s first-ever memorial to those who died as a result of their mothers being prescribed the drug in the early stages of pregnancy.
The wreath commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Thalidomide Society, which was formed in 1962 by the parents of children affected by the drug.
Mr Tweedy, who turns 60 in June and is himself a Thalidomider, is a prominent campaigner for the society.
The society was formed by parents of children affected by the drug in order to provide mutual support and seek compensation.
At least 2,000 babies in the UK were born due to Thalidomide, and more than half of them died within their first year. An unknown number also died in the womb.
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Common deformities included missing or shortened limbs, blindness, brain damage and missing internal organs.
442 UK Thalidomiders still alive
There are a total of 442 Thalidomiders aged between 56 and 63 still alive in the UK today.
Over the last two decades, Mr Tweedy – who sufferers from shortened arms and fingers fused together, has helped secure hundreds of millions of pounds from the government for the ongoing care of fellow survivors.
He said:
Disabled learners hold art exhibition in Harrogate“A decade ago, we planted this tree to commemorate those who died from this hideous drug. Thalidomide was the worst man-made disaster in peace time history.
“It killed thousands of babies in the womb and in their first years of life. It left thousands more with terrible deformities and affected the lives of thousands of families around the world.
“For the last ten years I have watched the memorial tree grow – and it will be here long after I, and all the other Thalidomide survivors, have passed away.
“The Harrogate district has seven thalidomide survivors, and since its inception 60 years ago the Thalidomide Society has fought our corner and championed our welfare.
“Whilst this wreath is to commemorate the victims of this tragedy, it’s also to recognise the ongoing work of the Thalidomide Society which aims to ensure the impact of thalidomide is never forgotten.
A Harrogate charity has held an exhibition to showcase the artistic work of its disabled learners.
Disability Action Yorkshire staged the event last month at its Hornbeam Park training centre.
The exhibition included art and photographs by 14 students based on the theme of heraldry and quiet places.
Students designed coats of arms reflecting their personalities and shot images of quiet places.
Harriet Walker, the charity’s deputy training manager, said:
“We were delighted to have held our first ever photography and art exhibition, which demonstrated the creativity of our learners.
For the last few months, they had been working on the theme of heraldic art and quiet places, which they captured on paper and in ‘megapixels’.
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Founded 84 years ago, Disability Action Yorkshire helps disabled people live the life of their choosing.
It has headquarters and a training centre on Hornbeam Park, a residential care home on Claro Road, and a holiday lodge in Lincolnshire.
Guy Tweedy, who joined Disability Action Yorkshire board of trustees last month said:
“During the short time I’ve been a trustee with the charity, I’ve also met staff and customers at its Claro Road care home and have been incredibly impressed by the dedication of all involved.”
The photo shows (left to right) disability learner Ian, Disability Action Yorkshire trustee Guy Tweedy, disability learners Emma and Charles, and Disability Action Yorkshire staff member Sammi.
Harrogate thalidomide campaigner defends animal testing firm LabcorpA Harrogate thalidomide campaigner has defended local firm Labcorp Drug Development in the row over animal testing.
Guy Tweedy said if thalidomide had been tested on animals in the 1950s, thousands of people such as himself might have been spared birth defects caused by the drug.
Mr Tweedy, who is one of 447 beneficiaries of the Thalidomide Trust, as well as a trustee of Harrogate-based charity Disability Action Yorkshire, said thalidomide was barely tested before it went on sale.
He added:
“If there had been better testing on animals before thalidomide came out in the UK between 1958 and 1962, it might have shown they could have been born with deformities, which would have prevented the same thing happening in humans.”
Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones is lobbying the government to help the company, previously called Covance, to expand. About a third of the American firm Labcorp’s 4,000 UK staff are based in Harrogate.
The site on Otley Road is frequently targeted by animal protestors. Harrogate Borough Council heard this month that live animals, including Beagle puppies, non-human primates. rabbits, mice and mini-pigs are experimented on in Harrogate.
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Cllr Victoria Oldham, the Conservative representative for Washburn, recently called for a moratorium on animal testing in the Harrogate district.
Her motion was rejected but councillors did agree to visit the site.
Mr Tweedy said he was an animal lover with several pets, including a dog and rabbits, but he nevertheless understood the necessity of testing for non-cosmetic purposes.
“At the end of the day they are doing tests for scientific purposes. If they had done the same for thalidomide I wouldn’t still be campaigning 60 years later.”
Primarily marketed under the brand name Distaval, thalidomide was sold to pregnant mothers in the UK for less than four years before it was withdrawn.
Harrogate thalidomide campaigner backs covid vaccineHarrogate thalidomide campaigner Guy Tweedy has said he had no hesitation taking the covid vaccine and has urged others to do likewise.
Businessman Mr Tweedy has been instrumental in the long-running campaign against the German drug company that gave thalidomide to pregnant mothers suffering from morning sickness in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
It led to thousands of babies in the UK, including Mr Tweedy, being born with severe disabilities.
Speaking today, he said “not all drug companies are wonderful” but added he was prepared to have the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab two weeks ago, particularly after listening to Professor Sarah Gilbert, who worked on the vaccine at the university:
“I was more than happy to take the vaccine. As soon as we can get out of this mess the better.”
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Some anti-vaxxers have used the side effects of thalidomide as a reason not to take the covid vaccine.
This prompted Dr Ruth Blue, a consultant for the Thalidomide Society, to describe comparisons between the two as “insulting”.
Mr Tweedy agreed it was wrong to draw comparisons between the impact of thalidomide and the vaccine.
He added:
“It was a nasty, toxic drug and you can’t compare it with the vaccine.”
He advised others to put their concerns to one side and be inoculated.
More than 70,000 people in the Harrogate district have received their first jab.
Mr Tweedy praised the speed of the UK vaccination rollout compared to other European countries.
Harrogate Thalidomide campaigner pays tribute to Sir Harold Evans“We’ve done a fantastic job.”
A leading Thalidomide campaigner from Harrogate has paid tribute to Sir Harold Evans, the newspaper editor who championed the cause of the drug’s victims in the early 1970s.
Sir Harold – known as Harry – a former editor of the Northern Echo and the youngest editor of the Sunday Times, has died at the age of 92.
He was instrumental in exposing the Thalidomide scandal, which saw thousands of babies in the UK born with severe disabilities after their mothers were given the drug to cure morning sickness.
Thalidomide victim Guy Tweedy, who lives in Harrogate, became a good friend of Sir Harold, and last saw him at his New York club in July 2019. He said:
“I am very sadden by the news of the passing of my dear friend.
“He was an icon. The world’s greatest journalist, and Harry was, and will always remain, a hero of Thalidomiders worldwide.
“What he did for Thalidomide survivors and their families in the UK was enormous. He trod where no one else did. If it wasn’t for him fighting against the establishment, and having the courage to expose this horrendous scandal, we would never have got any justice at all.
“We owe him a huge debt of gratitude that sadly we will never be able to repay. I hold him up in complete veneration and consider him one of the greatest men of all time. My thoughts are with his wife, Tina, and his family at this very sad time.
“I lit a candle to his memory, which is standing in front of a portrait that I had commissioned of him a few years ago. God bless you, Sir Harry.”
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