A PIANO teacher and wildlife enthusiast who once owned the oldest working fridge in Britain has died aged 92.

Doris Stogdale, née Mosley, was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on May 23, 1921, and lived for 55 years at Shotover Hill, near Oxford.

She spent her early years in Newcastle but took a gap year at the age of 17, long before it was fashionable, to teach English in France.

The Second World War was declared while she was abroad, and she had to wait months to be repatriated.

Mrs Stogdale was already a talented pianist but chose to study geography and economics at Durham University, where she graduated with First Class Honours and met her future husband Vivian Stogdale.

She moved to London to work for the newly established Ministry of Town and Country Planning in 1943 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society the following year.

She spent many nights as a volunteer fire watcher during bombing raids, and was once forced to return home to Newcastle when the Ministry’s offices suffered a direct hit.

In 1947, soon after their marriage, she accompanied Vivian when he went to work in Malaya as a civil engineer.

Their first posting was to Kuala Dungun, now famous for its turtle beaches but then a remote colonial outpost.

Mrs Stogdale learned to speak Malay and taught local children to swim.

Her three children David, Valerie and Anne were all born in Malaya.

She survived recurrent malaria, and the family moved all over the Peninsula during the next 11 years, while Vivian oversaw the construction of major roads through the jungle, often working under Gurkha protection against Communist insurgents.

After Malaya’s independence in 1957, they returned home bringing with them a fridge they had purchased in 1952.

They saw no reason to replace it, and 58 years later it gained national fame as the oldest working fridge in Britain.

The Stogdales settled at Shotover Hill, where they renovated a dilapidated farmhouse and created a garden in the middle of natural woodland.

Mrs Stogdale, who supported the work of conservation charities locally and farther afield, resumed her musical studies and embarked on a new career as a piano teacher in the 1970s.

She was popular among pupils she taught at Headington School for 20 years, and continued to give lessons until her death on October 7. Her funeral was at St Andrew’s Church, Headington last Friday.

She was a member of Oxford Wives Fellowship for 50 years and spent her last year living at Emden House, Headington.

Mrs Stogdale is survived by her children and eight grandchildren. Mr Stogdale died in 1996, aged 75.