A teacher fell to her death from her riverside garden after being swept off her feet by strong gales, an inquest has heard.
Valerie Weston, 57, of Irwell Vale, Lancashire is believed to have fallen into the fast-flowing Irwell river while trying to retrieve a canoe and plant pots from her garden in the midst of a heavy storm.
The educational adviser for Lancashire county council had been sharing a glass of wine with friends and was preparing for a camping holiday shortly before her disappearance on 30 March. She was found by a police patrol on 1 April after her son, Joseph Weston, reported her missing.
Weston’s brother, Neil Simms, told Burnley coroner’s court on Wednesday that the family believed she had gone to retrieve the canoe or plant pots and had been swept off her feet by the elements. “She had just had an extension built which overlooked the river. She lived for her family and hosting gatherings there,” he added.
Weston had begun her career teaching both history and PE before she became an educational adviser. Her role involved working with troubled 14- to 16-year-olds, offering support which might prevent their expulsion from schooling. She had only recently received the all-clear from breast cancer and her husband, Dave, had died a couple of years earlier.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, east Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor said there was no question that the high winds had caused her fall. “She seems to me to have been a most interesting person who had everything to live for, who was planning a trip the next day,” Taylor said.
Joseph Weston told the hearing he had become concerned for his mother’s welfare when he saw the patio doors of their house had been left open and discovered she had not stayed at the neighbour’s overnight. A flood warning was issued on the night when she was last seen, he said.
Family and friends paid tribute to Weston, who had previously worked as a teacher at the now-closed Coney Green high school. Her sister, Janet Berkon, said: “She was a very happy person who had lots of friends. Around 400 people turned up for her funeral.”
Her friend of 25 years, Janice Johnson, who runs Irwell Vale village nursery, added: “She was the kindest, loveliest person in the world and everyone was very sad when we heard the news that she was missing. Valerie absolutely loved the river and it’s ironic that that is what has taken her in the end.
“I’m utterly devastated and I can’t stop crying. She knew everybody in the village and she did not have a bad word to say about anyone.”
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