After her music career, Derbyshire worked as a radio operator for the laying of a British Gas pipeline, in an art gallery and in a bookshop. In late 1974 she married David Hunter; the relationship was brief, although she never divorced. She also frequented the gallery space of Chinese artist Li Yuan-chia at his stone farmhouse in Cumbria. In 1978 she returned to London and met Clive Blackburn. In January 1980 she bought a house in Northampton, where four months later Blackburn joined her. He remained her partner for the rest of her life.