WARM tributes have been paid to a "very determined" former deputy headteacher who inspired fear and respect among the thousands in Settle who passed through her care.

Onyx Ralph, who has died at the age of 97 at the Craven Nursing Home in Skipton, where she had been for just under a year, was at Settle High School between 1955 and 1978 where she was a PE teacher and deputy head.

Despite her small stature, Miss Ralph commanded respect and instilled a code of conduct, which is still remembered by the students to whom referred as her "scholars".

She is recalled standing at the school gates handing out ties to all of those improperly dressed, and stopping the toughest of rugby players from running in corridors with a stern look.

When she was interviewed in 2004 at her home in Settle for the Tosside News by one such former scholar, she had lost none of her old authority, reducing her interviewer to a bundle of nerves, complete with sweaty palms. But the old pupil ended by paying tribute to the woman who she noted had the same tone of voice only recognisable to a Settle High Schooler.

"It's a shame her way of gaining respect and instilling discipline, when she stood only 5ft tall, could not be bottled and distributed into modern day society," she wrote.

A true child of Settle, Miss Onyx attended Settle Primary School and Settle Girls' High School, before moving on to Lincoln Training College. Her first teaching job was at Maltby Hall Girls' Modern School, from 1939 to 1942, when she moved to Barnoldswick Secondary Modern School, where she was a PE teacher until 1950, teaching both boys and girls.

Her career as a PE teacher was all the more remarkable as a young person she had suffered from both meningitis and tuberculosis, spending some time in a sanatorium.

In 1954, she relocated to Carlisle County High School, but disliked the damp climate, and applied for the post of gym mistress at Settle Girls' High School.

Miss Ralph, who never married, but who came from a large family of three brothers and two sisters and was close to her two nieces and two nephews, was a great correspondent who having met people while walking around Settle, would start writing to them, resulting in hundreds of cards from across the world at birthdays and Christmas.

At her 90th birthday party held at The Falcon Manor, her guests travelled from as far as Sweden and Holland to be with her.

Sue Stark, on behalf of Miss Ralph's many friends and former pupils, said she would be remembered as a remarkable and determined lady who had been part of Settle's community for many years.

She added: "She was early to rise and late to bed and was always on the go. She enjoyed Settle, it was where she was born and had many, many friends, not just of her own age, but of all ages."

A thanksgiving service will take place at Settle Parish Church on Tuesday at 1.15pm.