Judy Dainton campaigning for more social housing in the 1980s

A COMMUNITY activist who devoted her life to battling double-dealing developers and unscrupulous landlords has been remembered this week as a likeable and loyal character “who you’d want in your pub quiz team”.

Judy Dainton, who has died aged 79, lived in Calthorpe Street, King’s Cross, where she was the chair of the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood Forum.

In that role, she had called for the best deal possible on the Mount Pleasant development – where there were appeals for more affordable housing. She had also campaigned to stop developers taking over the Carpenters Arms pub.

Most recently she helped secure an Asset of Community Value status for her favourite local pub, the Calthorpe Arms. She also supported  The Calthorpe Project community centre.

The campaign to protect the Carpenters Arms

Dave Wheeler, the former Carpenters Arms landlord who met with her most weeks, said: “Judith was a great and loyal person. She didn’t suffer fools and was very intelligent. Any just cause she was up for being part of it, and a big part of it. She was one for the right thing to do, not the underdog necessarily just the right thing to do.”

He added: “She was a well-read lady too, very educated. She was not with all the airs and graces but you’d want her in your quiz team.”

Mr Wheeler said he had met her three weeks ago with a glass of red wine in her wheelchair outside the Calthorpe Arms, where the group of exiled punters from the Carpenters would go after their pub was shut down.

“We’re going to have an event for her up at there,” he said. “She would have liked that, she’ll probably send us a ‘wish I was there’ postcard.”

Judy had run similar neighbourhood campaigns in the 1970s when she lived in Fitzrovia and came up against big developers with their eyes on hospital site land.