Family pays tribute to '˜great landlady'

Val Campbell, 72, died on February 25 following a 13-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

Her husband Ian, 70, said: “She was a lovely person and a great landlady. Everybody loved Val.”

Mrs Campbell, who lived in Staining, was a well-known face among both local people and tourists thanks to her dedication to Blackpool’s pub industry. She made her name as a landlady at The Jaggy Thistle on York Street from 1986 to 1998. From there, she went on to secure three more popular pubs: she worked at The Bierkeller on Blackpool Promenade from 1990 until 2002, The Blarney Stone from 1995 until 1998, and The Plough in Staining from 2005 until 2009.

Mr Campbell said: “She always got the ‘thrill from the till’ on a successful night, but her favourite thing was meeting all the holidaymakers and making friends. They would come back year after year to see her. We have had calls from people in Australia and Ireland and Spain. There are people coming from overseas to her funeral.

“She would take these pubs and build them up from nothing.

“They don’t make landladies like Val any more.”

A keen fund-raiser, Mrs Campbell is also remembered for her charity work for Cancer Research UK and the Blackpool and Fylde Coast Fundraising Group for guide dogs.

Mr Campbell said: “We have raised more than £48,000 over the years. If anyone ever needed some funds raising she would do events for them.”

Mrs Campbell leaves behind stepchildren Andrea, 45, and Kevin, 44, and grandchildren Hannah, 12, Regan, 12, and Rebecca, 10.

Her funeral will take place at Carleton crematorium at noon on March 9. Family members have asked well-wishers to donate to Cancer Research UK in her memory online at www.donateinmemory.cancerresearchuk.org using the reference number is 0006768.