The woman who knew Agatha Christie best remembered at 105

The woman who knew probably more than anybody in the world about Dame Agatha Christie has died aged 105 - just as the annual festival to celebrate the Queen of Crime starts across Torbay and South Devon.

Joan Nott spent decades as a special guide in the Bay, promoting Dame Agatha and the English Riviera and only retired in  her late 90s.

She died on August 31 just a few months after celebrating her 105th birthday with family and close friends at the Aveland Court Care Home in Torquay where she lived.

Along the way, she received birthday cards from not one, but two monarchs: Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles - a very rare honour. 

Joan worked as a Blue Badge Guide for more than 40 years. She became internationally recognised for her knowledge of all things Agatha Christie.

At the age of 97, she stood for more than an hour to deliver a talk on Christie at Torre Abbey as part of the Agatha Christie Festival. 

She also attended the unveiling of the Agatha Christie statue on The Strand, Torquay, as a special guest earlier this year. 

She was also the driving force behind the creation of the Agatha Christie Mile, after identifying locations in Torquay featured in Christie’s novels. 

According to Joan’s family, the Christie family themselves trusted her to give an accurate and reliable account of both the author and the area.

It all led to close friendships with the Christie children, Rosalind and Matthew. As a Blue Badge tour guide, people from all over the world requested tours with her and she was more than happy to oblige, making sure Torquay’s connection to the author was never forgotten. “She loved being central to big moments,” Celia says, referring to the unveiling of the  Christie statue.

Joan won several tourism and community awards but not every moment in her Guiding career went smoothly. Celia laughs as she reminisces about one unexpected incident:. “She was bitten by a penguin at Living Coasts. A bite the size of a 50 pence piece. When she went to the hospital and told the staff she’d been bitten by a penguin, they astoundedly asked “in Torquay?!”

Joan used to live in a house fondly referred to as ‘Craquers’ with her three close friends, Boots, Thelma and Audrey, forming a friendship that would span across 60 years. 

After moving on from the house, Joan was introduced to Michael, who would become her husband, through a mutual doctor.

 “He told them it would be such a shame to lose touch,” recalls daughter Celia, “so they agreed to meet 20 years later, in London because they thought they’d be rich by then. And they did. They met outside the Ritz.”

Celia recounted how the travel bug ran in the family - Joan’s parents first met in Africa. And Joan herself travelled extensively, largely due to Michael’s life in the army and in the war where his job was to protect diamond mines.

One of Celia’s most memorable stories is one her mother used to share about their time living in Daru, Africa. “We were taught under the mango tree, and she’d warn us about crocodiles in the river and cannibals on the other side. But we’d still run around out there,” Celia recalls warmly.

 “There was nothing around, no shops or anything, but they’d still get dressed up for dinner. So there they were, walking through the middle of nowhere in their long dresses. Sometimes, we’d even watch a film together.” 

Joan also visited Moscow at 90, determined to take a river cruise on her own. 

Celia also shares a story about her mother visiting New York at 93.  Refusing to be the last person on the bus, she insisted, “they’ll say it’s because I’m old.” 

So resolute was she that, after getting stuck in the city, they approached a police officer to explain their situation. He flagged down a taxi for them. “She just had that way about her, it made people want to help her,” said Celia 

Joan would go on to tell people about this trip, particularly proud of meeting The Naked Cowboy. 

Joan’s loyalty and warmth extended well beyond her immediate circle, leading to friendships with some well-known names over the years. 

She attended Dame Vera Lynn’s 90th, 95th, and 100th birthday celebrations. She also shared a close bond with Lord Coleridge, regularly exchanging birthday and Christmas cards.

 “She loved telling people she was friends with a Lord,” Celia says with a laugh. “And if you look closely in Monty Python’s Scott of the Sahara, you’ll even spot Joan and her family as extras, another unlikely but wonderful chapter in a very surprising life.” 

Born in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, in 1920, Joan was the daughter of an engineer and a nurse. She went to school in Liverpool alongside her sister Margaret.

She qualified as a teacher at Whitelands College in 1940 and began teaching English at a school in Hounslow. 

Joan taught throughout the Second World War, frequently leading pupils to air raid shelters while carrying gas masks as lessons were interrupted by bombing raids.

Celia says: “She would always talk about the air raid sirens. When the sirens would blair, Joan would have to take 40 children to the shelters, never knowing how long they’d be there for. She’d entertain them with just her personality and presence, inspiring hope in such a scary time. The same went for when she’d take evacuees on the trains with nothing but their labels and small suitcases. Mum would say she never knew when to give them their food because no one knew where they were going.” 

Joan and Michael were married on April 13, 1946 in Ealing. After returning to England, the couple eventually settled in Torquay. Michael began working as an antiques dealer before the pair set up a guiding business, South West Couriers.

Life changed dramatically after Michael’s death in 2005. Shortly afterwards, Joan was invited to represent him at a luncheon at Buckingham Palace hosted by the Queen, marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

Her milestone 100th birthday came amid COVID-19 restrictions but the people around her could not let it be forgotten.  Around 20 neighbours gathered to sing “Happy Birthday” at a distance while Joan proudly held up her letter from the Queen. It was a moment of warmth and community that was a true testament to her character. 

Despite still recovering from surgery to insert a metal rod into her leg after a broken femur from a recent fall, Joan was still in good spirits for her 105th birthday.

Joan’s funeral will take place on September 18 at 1.30pm at the crematorium - rather fittingly in the same week as the 2025 Agatha Christie Festival gets into full swing and which she loved so much. 

Joan leaves behind three daughters, seven grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. 

The service is expected to be a large one, as she touched countless lives and meant so much to so many.

Joan’s secret to a long life? “Remaining busy” and “finding something worthwhile to do”. And Celia says: ““She would love to be famous one last time.” 

Joan will be laid to rest with two things that wouldn’t leave her side - her handbag and a packet of biscuits. At the end of a handwritten story about her life, she wrote “I have had a happy and interesting life and in my home life and my work I have done my best and left my mark in this world, but that is for others to decide.” 

Celia was asked if she could think of one sentence that could describe her mother. “She loved leaving her footprints on the sands of time.” 

She has done just that.