For it was there, at St Mary's in Rostherne, that Elsie Jackson had rang the church bells every year on Christmas Day.

A week earlier she had died in her sleep in the house where she was born 87 years earlier, on December 25.

But as a special peal echoed through the village last Wednesday her friends and family were left wondering what Christmas - and Rostherne - would be like without her.

"So many people came to tell me how they simply could not imagine Rostherne without my aunt," said Mabel Goulden, 66.

"It will be a sad Christmas this year without her."

Knutsford people may have been served by Elsie in Canute Cafe.

Others remember her for being the woman who fought - and won - a battle for a better bus service for her village.

But it was her dedication to the church that was remembered last week.

More than 130 mourners attended the service where many received Christmas cards written by Elsie before she died.

They sang 'Silent Night' and listened to a moving tribute from Canon Noel Rogers who recognised her lifelong contribution to the church.

"She would never miss a service on a Sunday," he said.

"She was very much a part of the church."

Mabel also read out two poems penned by her aunt including one called 'Rostherne.'

The other, called All Through the Years, was written by Elsie in 1928 when she was just 16.