Farewell to Glad

Last month, we were finally able to say a proper goodbye to Gladys, one of our original Sugar Girls as well as an irreplaceable friend. Since the pandemic meant it wasn’t possible to have a public funeral when Glad died in March, her family had decided to wait until now to organise a get-together to celebrate her life, and to scatter her ashes. 

We gathered at the Golden Fleece, on the edge of Wanstead Flats, where Glad and her husband John had courted so many decades earlier. Then in small groups we took the little bags of ashes that her family had carefully divided up and went to scatter them on the grass. It was an emotional farewell for everyone.

With the family’s permission, we also took an extra couple of bags to scatter at the site of the Plaistow Wharf factory. Knowing that the factory, too, was a major part of Gladys’ life – not least because of the life-long friends she made within its walls – it seemed right that part of her should remain there.