Alison Brading was born in Bexhill-on-Sea and educated at The Maynard School, Exeter, where she excelled academically and in sport, winning the Victor ludorum [REF].
An 18-month period of recovery in the Wingfield Hospital (Oxford; now Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre)[REF] from the acute phase of her illness meant that she was unable to accept a position to study Medicine at the University of Oxford.