I was a teenager working
in an office in Lower Regent Street – near to Piccadilly Circus in London – when
I heard a Lavender Lady. A piece of history harking back to the days when
flower girls and lavender ladies roamed the streets with baskets of flowers and
singing about their wares. Our office overlooked Jermyn Street (behind the
Criterion Theatre) and she was wending her way the length of the street. Of
course we all rushed to look out of the windows.
Another occasion whilst
in Regent Street I saw Dame Margot Fonteyn (except that she wasn’t a Dame in
those days). There was a new shop on the corner – The Tea Centre – which I
believe she was Opening. I was across the road and saw this elegant lady in an
‘A Line’ coat – the latest fashion – as she chatted with a group of people.
Vivacious, sparkling eyes, smiling and expressive hands. Wish I had had a
camera.
This was a great area to
work in as it wasn’t far from Shaftesbury Avenue with its theatres so we
occasionally saw actors and actresses (sorry, I do like to know the sex of
actors especially as some first names could be of any sex!).
In another direction was
The Mall near to Admiralty Arch so sometimes we would go down there and maybe
take our sandwiches to sit in St. James’s Park and enjoy the relative quiet. Occasionally
when waiting to cross the road we saw members of the Royal Family – mostly in
cars but I do remember Princess Margaret (wearing a red velvet coat and hat)
and the Queen Mother in an open carriage. The Princess had recently arrived
back in the UK following an official overseas visit. I believe they were on the
way to the Guildhall in the City of London to a Luncheon. These days they would
have been in a car rather than a carriage – far too much traffic about now.
The 1950s was a great
decade in which to be a teenager following the austerity of war-time (and post-war)
rationing – among other things.
