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Journalist who owned GB's 'smallest house' dies aged 83

A regional journalist who laid claim to owning Great Britain’s smallest house has died aged 83.

Tributes have been paid to Margaret Williams, who was also an author and leader of ghost tours in her hometown of Conwy, North Wales.

Margaret, pictured below, began her career on the North Wales Weekly News before crossing the border into England to work on the Chester Chronicle as well as in Liverpool.

She later returned to Conwy, the subject of many of her books, to care for her elderly parents.

Margaret Williams

Journalist Derek Bellis said: “I’ve known Margaret for many years, and recall her days as a journalist on the Weekly News.

“She was an extrovert who loved parties. She knew everybody in Conwy and they all knew her.”

She would often be seen outside The Smallest House in Great Britain, which was owned by her family, in traditional Welsh costume greeting tourists.

Betty Pattinson, a former mayor of Conwy and a childhood friend of Margaret’s, added: “Margaret was always very interested in what was going on in Conwy, and was active in the Conwy Civic Society.

“She was very proud to have made it as a journalist in what was then a very male-dominated world.”