I met Annie whilst she was making her way through the crowds at Borough Market. She was having trouble with her trolley as the wheels were getting stuck in the pot-holes. I gave her a hand and she kindly let me take some shots.
As I walked her back to her nearby flat, she explained that she had just popped out to get a bottle of Whiskey. Her favourite was Johnny Walker but they don’t do the big bottles anymore in the local mini-mart, so she got some Famous Grouse instead. Annie was born in the area and has always lived there. Before she got married, she was a machinist in a sportswear factory but the production was switched to uniforms during the war.
Annie has been married twice. Her first husband of 18 years ran off with the barmaid from the Anchor pub which was a stone's throw from where we were chatting. Ted, her second husband ran a haulage company which meant that he and Annie would travel to Spain a lot which she loved. Ted died last year of dementia aged 90. Annie said it was sad because, towards the end, he didn’t really recognise her. Annie had 3 kids. The first died at just seven whilst playing on one of the post-war building sites. He fell through a glass roof. It was ironic because he was told not to play on the bomb sites so he thought it would be safer to play on a building site instead. Her other son died aged 18 - I didn’t catch how. Annie’s third child was a daughter. She married an Italian and lives in the South of Italy right next to Mount Etna. She sends Annie videos of the smoking volcano from time to time. Annie was immaculate in her leather jacket and scarf. She does her own hair and nails but someone does come in to do her feet. In her youth, she dreamed of being a dancer. She loved to dance the whole time and fancied herself as a bit of a Ginger Rogers. Annie was a very sharp woman and I really enjoyed chatting with her. Incredibly, Annie will be 93 in June. She was born on the cusp of Gemini and Cancer so she reads both horoscopes and chooses to believe in the most optimistic one. I reckon that it’s exactly that sort of attitude that accounts for her longevity and inherent glamour.
