Vale Gwenda MacDiarmid

Gwenda MacDiarmid was a dedicated member of the National Trust Women’s Committee for over 20 years and played a pivotal role in the committee’s many activities. She frequently attended the annual House and Garden inspections alongside working as a ‘Cherry Bow’ – an affectionate term for longstanding members of the committee. Over the course of her time with the Women’s committee, Gwenda baked hundreds of cakes, tarts and slices for events including the much-loved Lindesay Christmas Fair. She also lent her expertise as a writer to leaflets and the magazine.

Her skill in proof reading was unsurpassed and it was a task she carried out even to this year. In recognition of her contribution to the Women’s Committee and the National Trust, Gwenda received the Bronze medal in 2010 and the Voluntary Service Award in 2019.

Before joining the Women’s Committee in 2005, Gwenda enjoyed a vibrant career. She studied interior and fashion design at East Sydney Technical College before securing a journalism cadetship with the Daily Telegraph in the 1960s. For the next 40 years, Gwenda worked as a journalist on publications including Woman’s Day, House and Garden and Vogue Living. Writing under her maiden name, Gwenda Edwards, she reported on buildings and architecture as the property writer for the Daily Telegraph for 16 years.

Gwenda was an accomplished botanical artist and a member of the Botanic Art Society. She donated her works to the Women’s Committee as prizes and provided the artwork for many of the committee’s notecards.  In her retirement she continued to write, focusing on travel and in particular gardens. She was a judge for the Master Builders Building Awards and Housing Industry Awards, and one of five judges for the State Building Designer’s Association Awards.

Gwenda will be remembered as a journalist, writer, artist, cook, wonderful entertainer, interior designer but particularly as a loving mother, grandmother and most loyal friend.