We'll miss Kathy, say valley folk

Jan 10 2000 By KAREN GRATTAGE

NORA Batty, the wrinkled stockinged object of Compo's affection, is leaving Last of the Summer Wine with many memories - and many people in the Holme Valley have fond memories of her, too.

The domineering housewife, who has been amusing generations of comedy lovers with her blunt Yorkshire wit, will appear in just one more series of the hit show.

Kathy Staff, the actress who played Nora - complete with curlers, a broom often wielded in anger and cries of "Get away" - first graced our screens in Last Of The Summer Wine on January 4, 1973. Yesterday she confirmed to the Examiner that she was to quit.

She is leaving the series, set mainly in the Holme Valley, believing there is no future for her character without her sparring partner, Compo, played by Bill Owen who died last year.

Thousands of tourists have flocked to see the house known as Nora Batty's home in Huddersfield Road, Holmfirth, since the series began.

Sonia Lee, who lives there with her husband, said: "I am upset to see her go, but she has always said she wanted to leave if anything happened to Bill.

"I see her very often during filming and I hope she will still come back to Holmfirth to see us because she is a lovely woman.

"I have no idea whether they will still use the house in the series - my back steps have come to be known as Nora's steps."

Artist Jenny Hinchliffe, of Skelmanthorpe, began making Summer Wine pottery 18 years ago.

"Kathy's character is brilliant," she said. "The older generation loved the romance of Nora and Bill as well as the comedy."

Greengrocer Andrew Bray, who knows many of the Summer Wine actors, said: "Kathy has contributed a lot to local life by taking part in fundraising for Kirkwood Hospice and other local events.

"It is no surprise that she is leaving the series because she very much missed Bill. It is no secret that he died on Kathy's birthday.

"She took losing him very badly and this year it has been quite clear she has not got over losing him as a friend and work colleague."

In 1982 a Nora Batty fan club was set up by Radio Two DJ Terry Wogan.

"I'm quite astonished by the way that old battle-axe Nora's become so popular," Kathy Staff once said.

Kathy, who wrote her autobigraphy, aptly titled My Story, Wrinkles and All in 1997, has been approached by the soap Crossroads in which she appeared as Doris Luke in the 1970s and 1980s.

She says she has not decided whether to join the new series.