Torquay's Agatha Christie expert celebrates 105 years

Former Torbay Blue Badge Guide Joan Maud Nott marked her 105th birthday surrounded by family and friends — making her one of the oldest residents in the area.

Daughters Linda, Celia and Hilary, along with sons-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, gathered on May 28 to celebrate the milestone at Aveland Court Care Home in Torquay, where Joan now lives.

Helen, a member of staff at the care home, said it was the only 105th birthday she had ever seen celebrated there. Fortunately, there were no delays this time around, unlike on Joan’s 100th birthday, which had to be postponed due to Covid restrictions.

Above: Joan and Helen with 105th birthday letter from King Charles III

Joan has led a remarkable life — one that has taken her around the world as the wife of the late Michael, who served in the Army.

The Torbay Weekly visited Aveland Court to speak to Joan and her daughters Linda and Celia. Despite still recovering from surgery to insert a metal rod into her leg after a broken femur, Joan was in good spirits. She had lived independently until October 2024, but moved into the care home following an earlier fall which had resulted in a broken collarbone.

Joan worked as a Blue Badge Guide for more than 40 years and only retired in her late 90s. 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. 

Above: Joan with Christie's grandson Matthew Prichard at the unveiling

Determined to promote the English Riviera, Joan “just got on with things” in true stalwart fashion. She was 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.

But Joan’s legacy stretches far beyond Torbay.

Born in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, in 1920, she was the daughter of an engineer and a nurse. She went to school in Liverpool alongside her sister Margaret and excelled in her 11-plus exam, earning the top Waterworth Scholarship to St Edmund’s.

Above: Joan with lifelong friends, Audrey, Thelma and Boots

She qualified as a teacher at Whitelands College in 1940 and began teaching English at a school in Hounslow. It was during this time she formed a 60-year long friendship with Audrey, Thelma and Boots, and helped create a vibrant home filled with parties and socialising, fondly nicknamed Craquers.

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.

She met her husband Michael through their mutual doctor after he returned from service in Burma. They married on April 13, 1946 in Ealing.

Above: Joan and Michael on their wedding day

During our visit, Joan recalled with affection the family’s time in Daru, Africa, where Michael was responsible for guarding the diamond mines. She joked that “you took care to avoid” the local sanitary man, who would lift the toilet bucket in salute, as if tipping his hat.

Despite the basic conditions, lack of schools and neighbours, Joan was determined to maintain standards, insisting that long dresses be worn by the ladies for dinner.

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.

Joan’s deep knowledge and love of Christie’s novels, their mysteries and characters, remains with her to this day.

Her and Michael’s work brought them into contact with several famous names, including Dame Vera Lynn — who spoke with Joan as if they had known each other all their lives — and Lord Coleridge, the grandson of poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Joan has even sipped tea and vodka at the Russian Embassy.

Above: Joan with Dame Vera Lynn

She continued travelling well into her later years. At 90, she fulfilled a lifelong ambition to visit Moscow and St Petersburg solo. Aged 93, she and her daughters enjoyed a memorable trip to New York, where they met The Naked Cowboy.

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.

Asked whether she would attend, Joan reportedly replied: “Yes, I’m going. I lived through the war!”

She is now undoubtedly one of the few people in the world to have received birthday letters, one on her 100th birthday and the other on her 105th, from two different monarchs.

Joan’s secret to a long life? “Remaining busy” and “finding something worthwhile to do”.