Her first teaching job was in Birmingham; and then, as the Second World War loomed, she moved to Scarborough where she became very involved in the evacuation of thousands of children from Hull, Middlesbrough and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1942, she married Flight-Lieutenant Alan Spiers, and moved back to Cambridge where she remained until the end of the war. By 1946, she had two children, Roger and Bridget; and the family moved to Dorset where she joined the St. John Ambulance and the women’s branch of the Royal British Legion at Wimborne.

She returned to teaching in 1951, and taught in the Kindergarten of Manor House School, Wimborne, for 10 and a half years. In 1962, she was appointed Head of Pamphill Primary School, and stayed in that post until 1969 when she became Head of Wimborne Minster Infants’ School. She often recalled the time when she had to close the school at Pamphill during the winter of 1962-63 when the septic tank froze solid; and the Folkestone/Honiton Trunk Road being widened outside the Wimborne School in 1972, taking 10 feet off the playground. She became a County Staff Officer in the St. John Ambulance in 1964; and became a Serving Sister of the Order in 1979.

Her husband died in 1989, aged 77; and from then until 2004, she kept busy, travelling (her holidays included a trip up the Amazon!), and doing voluntary work. She also became very interested in the history of lace, and delivered a number of lectures on the subject. As a result of these activities, she made many friends.  In 2005, she had to be admitted into care, where she was very well cared for, until her death on 25 May 2008.