steve reeves photographer

Joyce and Audrey

According to Audrey's dentist, she is 87. On her last visit there, she told him she was 88, but when he looked at her records, he said she was actually 87. Audrey likes the idea of being 88 - "Two fat ladies, as they say in Bingo," She said with a grin, “Not that I ever play Bingo," she added.

Audrey is great friends with Joyce, and I took this shot at a dog show on Tooting Common. Audrey had pushed Joyce's wheelchair all the way across the Common from where her car was parked so they could watch the show. 

Joyce is 98 and remembers The Blitz. She was 15 and working as a clerk in Brixton. She told me that South London got it bad. The bombers would drop a few bombs onto her neighbourhood on their way to Central London. If they had any left on the way home, they would dump the rest onto South London. Joyce was bombed out 3 times.

She’s been married twice, “My first husband was a sod, so I divorced him but the second husband was very good.” He passed away in his 80s.

Joyce said it can be a bit lonely being 98. She has a son who lives in Northamptonshire and is in his 70s. He has his own health problems, so he can't come to visit much.

She said it's lovely that Audrey picks her up in her car and takes her out on day trips. 

Audrey loves dogs, but her husband wouldn't let her have one. She spent most of the time at the dog show wandering around and petting every dog she saw, so I didn't get to talk to her much until her met her again later…

AUDREY

Audrey was born in 1935 and worked for most of her life as an Occupational Therapist.

She trained in Nottingham and specialised in mental health. 

Audrey has always had 'Itchy feet,' so when she saw a newspaper advert for a job in Tasmania, she took it.

Flying there in the fifties was difficult, so she got the boat and still clearly remembers going through the Suez Canal.

She told me that Tasmania was 'marvellous.' But like in Britain back then, there was a huge amount of shame surrounding mental health issues, so the hospitals were often more like prisons. 

She then went to work in Brisbane. She loved swimming in the sea and remembers always looking out for the light aircraft that flew overhead - if one tipped its wings, it meant that there were sharks in the water. It was time to get out as quickly as possible.

She then worked in Vancouver but not for long because, during this time, her father died. Audrey was anxious about her mother, so she returned to the UK. She needn't have worried because her sister Joan was looking after her and ‘Mother was getting on very well.’

Audrey then went to work in Durban in South Africa. Unfortunately, Durban 'failed the test' because of the ‘colour bar.’ She got on a bus and was told she couldn't sit at the back because white people sat at the front. She went to the bank and saw that the black population had to use a side entrance, unlike the whites who got to go through the main door. To Audrey, this was obscene, and she thought, "stuff this” and came home. By then, she was in her 30s. 

Audrey always had a passion for history, and every weekend would go on guided history walks in London. On one of these walks, she met Arthur. He was a diplomat and about 10 years older than Audrey. The pair got on well, and unlike Durban, he 'passed the test' - on one of the walks, Audrey had to go to the Ladies. When she came out, the walking tour had moved on without her, except for Arthur, who had waited to ensure she wasn't left alone.

The couple went to Peru for a month, an unusual holiday destination in the 60s. When they returned, they settled in London and named the house 'Cusco' after an ancient Peruvian city.

Getting married so late meant that Audrey and Arthur never had kids. She confided in me, 'It's a huge gap in my existence.'  

She adores children, and when she retired in 1996, she helped out at a nursery. Recently, a 6ft man suddenly stopped his scooter on the streets of South London, ran up to Audrey, and said, "I remember you from when I was little."

She is 88 and now. Several years ago, Arthur passed away when according to Audrey, his heart went "diddly-bomb." But Audrey stays busy. She takes her friend Joyce out twice weekly in her car. A Nissan Micra that she calls ‘Sunshine,’ and she is a passionate gardener. 

Audrey loves socialising and chatting. As we parted, she said, "You feel that the world is going to be okay when you talk to people."