Tributes are pouring in for a former Echo reporter who died last month, three days after her 57th birthday.
Bridget Manley was the smiling face of the former Wimborne office for most of her 20 years with the Bournemouth-based newspaper, from 1990 to 2010.
The devoted mother-of-two, who lived in Merley, died at Forest Holme Hospice in Poole after receiving months of treatment for a brain tumour.
There were standing room only at a recent service to celebrate his life, which was held at Harbor View Crematorium and Woodland Burial Ground, Lytchett Minster.
Family and friends gathered in the ceremonial hall to pay their respects to a multi-talented journalist, mother and daughter.
Bridget herself had helped organize the event, and her famous positivity, practicality and modesty shone through the proceedings.
Officiant Rob Hazell told the venue: “She didn’t want a lot of flowers, she found and wrote some sayings, and she made a ‘My Funeral’ Spotify playlist”.
He revealed that Bridget’s doctor and nurses at hospice said no other patient had ever asked questions about her own health as often as she had.
Sons, Ben, 29, a teacher, and Joe, 26, who works for Citibank in London but still lived with Bridget, also shared their thoughts on their amazing mum during the service.
Bridget Manley
She loved sports and travel and fully embraced life, packing experiences and creating memories for her family even after her diagnosis in January 2021.
She was at Dean Court with Joe when AFC Bournemouth were promoted to the Premier League in May this year and, despite her advanced illness, found herself on the pitch after the game to touch the turf.
Joe will be running the London Marathon in October, to raise money for The Brain Tumor Charity.
Bridget was a successful professional, popular with colleagues and business contacts in the East Dorset area covered by the Wimborne office.
Her parents, who survive her, were poultry farmers and she was born and raised in Somerset, where her career as a journalist began covering local and less local stories.
A job for the Somerset County Gazette took her 8,000 miles from her home to the Falkland Islands. She joined the 3rd Battalion The Light Infantry there in 1988, to report on the situation six years after the war.
Interestingly, as a teenager she applied to join the British Army and was selected for the Intelligence Corps before deciding to accept a place on a specialist journalism course in Cardiff.
Her eldest son Ben told the Echo: “I always used to say mum would have been a fantastic interrogator in the military. People think you have to be tough but the real skill is to be able to establish the trust to extract information, which Mom could very well do.”
Ed Perkins, former boss and friend of the Bournemouth newspaper, remembers ‘a top journalist with a rare sensitivity in handling the most difficult and sensitive stories’.
“Editor Neal Butterworth and I used to say how lucky we were to have Bridget, and the whole Wimborne office, covering East Dorset. They just got to work with complete professionalism.”
Jenna Fansa, a fellow journalist at Wimborne, said: “Bridget was the kindest soul and she coped with her illness with grace and courage.
“She was a wonderful mom to Ben and Joe and a talented, tenacious and respected journalist who was full of integrity.
“His death at such a young age is a tragedy, but his positivity, even in difficult times, is a lesson for all of us. I am extremely grateful for the times we had together.”
Donations to The Brain Tumor Charity in Bridget’s memory can be made via www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Joe-London-Marathon or via www.tapperfuneralservice.co.uk
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