Hazel was born and raised by her beloved grandmother in the Hampshire village of Bentley.
She met future husband Geoffrey through a shared interest in motorbikes and they married in 1952. Geoffrey became an aerodynamics engineer and worked at AWRE Aldermaston.
After raising three daughters, running a riding school at Burghfield Common and collecting antiques over many years, Hazel and Geoffrey opened Faulknor Antiques in Hungerford.
She traded as a general antiques dealer at Portobello Market in London and at the Guinea Lane Market in Bath with her friend Tuppy Gregg.
When Hungerford Arcade opened in 1974, Hazel and Tuppy were among the initial stallholders, trading as the Junk Shop, which is still trading today run by Hazel’s daughter Louise Rogers. In 1980 Hazel was widowed and threw herself into her work even more. With her new partner Adrian Gilmour trips to France to buy stock were regular events for many years and the Junk Shop was always full of tin baths, fire irons, lamps and kitchenalia.
She made many friends in the trade over the years and loved to travel with them to the big fairs and exhibitions in London.
Arcade revived
In 2004, when Hungerford Arcade came up for sale and was in danger of redevelopment, Hazel and Adrian bought it. It had become rather run-down over the years and they managed to turn it back into a thriving antiques centre.
In 2012 Hungerford Arcade won the Homes & Antiques magazine award for Best Antique Centre. Hazel and Adrian travelled to Bristol for the awards ceremony featuring Kirstie Allsopp and Mark Hill.
Adrian continues to run the arcade successfully and recently acquired The Lamb Antiques Centre in Wallingford.
Hazel’s great passions in life were horses, dogs, antiques and gardening. She continued gardening into her nineties and adored her Old English Sheepdog, Bertie.
Hazel will be greatly missed by her husband Adrian, her three daughters, Penny, Louise and Lizzie, along with seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
