Former librarian Rosemary Rix put her talents to good use in writing her community's newsletter for 19 years.

Mrs Rix, who has died, aged 85, moved to the hamlet of Meeting Hill, near Worstead, with her husband Terence in 1987.

The couple threw themselves into local life, helping with harvest celebrations in the chapel, concerts, the village show, the annual village barbecue and book group, Christmas lunches and outings.

She filled the monthly Over The Hill newsletter with a mixture of local news, celebrations of children's achievements, relevant national news, and interesting snippets on history and language.

'She was the matriarch of Meeting Hill, welcoming new arrivals and helping with everything,' said friend and former hamlet resident Patrick Carter.

Born in London, Mrs Rix was educated at St Bernard's Convent in Slough and was a voracious reader.

Her love of books was to become her profession. She worked at the former Bumpus bookshop on London's Oxford Street, and took her library exams, passing with flying colours.

In the late 1950s she lived in California for 18 months, working in the library at CalTec University.

She met her future husband at Ealing public library where he was deputy borough librarian. They married in 1961 and had a son, Simon, and daughter, Pippa.

After having her family, Mrs Rix worked part time in a Slough bookshop which belonged to great friends of hers.

She enjoyed researching family history, especially her Cornish heritage from her father. The family were landowners and had tin mines.

A mine of information herself, Mrs Rix loved painstaking factual research and used her knowledge in ways which included naming the roads around Meeting Hill, which was both of historical interest and also a help to the emergency services.

Mr Rix, who died in 2001, was born in Norfolk and, before the couple moved permanently to his home county, the family spent holidays in Sea Palling, visiting the Worstead Festival.

As a local resident, Mrs Rix helped with the Worstead Festival and was also chairman of Worstead's Queen Elizabeth Hall management committee for many years.

When the original festival stalwarts stepped down a few years ago, she played a large role in helping the smooth transition to the new committee which now runs the summer event.

Her funeral will take place in Worstead Church on March 6 at 2pm, followed by a gathering in the village hall.