AT midday on June 5, Bobbie Chettleburgh handed over her chain of office to Jeremy Nettle, who became the 744th Mayor of Old Sarum.

"I knew it was just for one year so I don't want my last month to be sad," she tells me.

"I honestly don't know how I'll feel, but it's been absolutely fantastic."

She came into office with little preparation, assuming the role when mayor-in-waiting Su Thorpe failed to win reelection to the council.

Expecting to be Su's deputy mayor, Bobbie instead found herself scrambling to get her appeal off the ground in time for mayor-making and thrown in at the deep end when it came to formal functions.

"Not having that year as deputy meant I had no insight into what the public expected of the mayor," she says now, "but with support from Malcolm, by some fluke, it has worked out."

Fluke she may call it, but she and husband Malcolm have worked enormously hard to make the year and her appeal - to produce a Book of Remembrance for the fallen of the city and to establish a permanent home for it in St Thomas's Church - a huge success.

She is a natural life enhancer and her enthusiasm and capacity to enjoy any occasion has enveloped the city in one big Chettleburgh hug.

No doubt she would say that she speaks as she finds and that it's all down to the people she meets.

"Salisbury is so full of talented, kind, hard-working people - it's a shame you've got to be mayor to find out about it all", she says.

"It is an honour to be mayor of Salisbury - so many doors open to you and it's a very humbling experience. Some nights it's impossible to just come home and go to bed because you are on such a high."

She is delighted with the progress of her appeal.

She set her target at £40,000 with no real idea of how much the project would cost, and a succession of events from golf days to cream teas have brought cash rolling in.

It's likely to cost less than the £20,000 raised so far (quotes are currently coming in), but Bobbie wants it done properly. "It's not just the book and the calligraphy, but the case and the stand as well," she explains.

"We need another piece of furniture to house the records of all our research and there might be a computer database to come later."

She also wants to be able to leave a small sum to cover additional costs if other names come to light.

"People mustn't feel that it's too late if we have left someone out," she says emphatically.

This year's mayoral appeal has not been confined to fundraising - she and Malcolm have undertaken the mammoth task of research and the collation of material.

"We have 450 names so far, but none from Northern Ireland, Aden, Korea, the Falklands or Suez, but we're still researching."

She says that people like the Royal British Legion's Lindsay Green, who had already started to compile a list of those commemorated in churches and on war memorials in the area, have been enormously helpful.

"Our dream is to have it all in place by Remembrance Day in November," says Bobbie.

"We want to bring the names of those from the city of Salisbury who died into one place where families and friends can spend a quiet moment and where grandchildren can say: 'that was my granddad'.

"I'm not harping on about the war, but these men did go and fight and I'm just saying we should show respect. People chastise kids and say all the things they glibly say about children not knowing about it - I thought: 'Where is there for children to find out about it in Salisbury?' "

Her advice to her successor is to enjoy the year.

"I've been laughing and smiling all the way through," she says.

"It seems like forever and a day since I was made mayor, but I'm sure when it's over, I'll think: 'Where did that year go?' "