Penny Locke has lived in East Garston on and off for nearly 50 years. She went to Baydon Primary School and St Barts Sixth Form in Newbury from where she did internships at the Hungerford Adviser and Newbury Weekly News before going to Oxford University.
The next ten years were an interesting (but stressful) time in film and TV production in New York City. On her return to the UK she decided to train as a massage therapist.
A few years later as a mum at home with two toddlers, she started writing local information emails to friends, neighbours and the Valley Film Society’s mailing list of 40 people. They proved so popular that now, 15 years later, those emails have become the weekly Penny Post e-newsletter with a mailing list of over 3,000 and her husband Brian Quinn helps run the online publication and website.
These days Penny is often spotted in local cafes working on her laptop or looking after her cats, chickens and garden at home.