THE granddaughter of Biddestone woman Eileen Swannack, who was killed in the 2015 Tunisia terrorist attack, visited her grave over the weekend to mark the anniversary of her death.

Eileen Swannack, 73, was on holiday with her partner John Welch, 74, who lived in Corsham, in Tunisia on June 26 last year when they were killed at Port El Kantaoui. The couple, who visited Tunisia regularly, were caught up in the terrorist attack that killed 38 people.

Lucie Swannack, 26, of Larkhall, who visited her grandmother with her two children Ruby and Sapphire and her partner Jay two weeks before she left for her final holiday, said: “We will be visiting her grave and laying some flowers for her to mark the year passed.  “It was really strange, when we were there I thought that I hadn’t taken any recent pictures with gran and my children. So we took a few without knowing this would be the last time I would see her. I was supposed to be going to Tunisia myself and I remember them telling me not to as it was feared a terrorist attack may happen, then two weeks later it happened to her. I take comfort in the fact that she died with someone she loved and somewhere she loved and that she didn’t have to watch John get ill like she did my grandad,” added Miss Swannack.

She still has vivid memories of hearing about the terrorist attack and the agony of the days spent waiting for news.

“My dad texted me asking if I had seen the news: you hope that everything is going to be OK," she recalled. "I texted and called my gran but didn’t get an answer. That is when the panic set in. All the next day and night I was waiting to hear from her. My dad called me at 2am on Saturday to say that bodies had been found and it was pretty much 100 per cent that it was them. It is strange but at that point I was hoping that it was all wrong and that she was still hiding somewhere with John."

“Not a day goes by that I don't think about my Nan and the horrific way her life ended. She was such a big part of mine and her great-grandchildren's life, it feels like there's something missing in our lives now. She was loved by everyone and I'm sure her kind, witty, generous and beautiful self will be remembered by many. Nanny Eileen is forever in our hearts.

"Everyone who knew her called her Nanny Eileen, even people that weren’t related to her. My friends loved her and her family loved her, she had such a bubbly character. She was always feeding people up and was a very generous and warm person.  “She looked after my grandad until he died of cancer and as a dying wish he left a letter saying that he wanted her to find love, it is a really sweet story as they were both childhood sweethearts. She then met John and they were together for eight years.”