Location: Hilsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Summary:A brief and unexpected meeting with Barbara Windsor outside a bank in Hilsea during my teenage years, a moment tied to my dad’s quiet professionalism, my early days as a British Gas apprentice, and the nickname my mum later earned because of her likeness to Peggy Mitchell.
The Story
I must have been about seventeen or eighteen years old when I met Barbara Windsor, although “met” might be stretching it. It was more of a passing hello, but it stayed with me.
At the time, I was an apprentice with British Gas and spent a lot of my week at Highbury College in Cosham. My dad worked at the Inland Revenue office in Hilsea, and on days when my motorbike was being serviced, I would meet him there and get a lift home. This was one of those days.
When I arrived, Dad was in a meeting, so I waited for him in the office canteen. Eventually, he appeared, and we headed out to his car. He needed to stop at a bank around the corner, so we drove the short distance and parked in the layby outside.
We got out and walked the few steps to the entrance. As we reached the door, it opened and a woman stepped out. Dad held the door for her. She smiled, said “Hello Brian,” and Dad replied, “Hello Barbara, this is my son, Alan.” She said hello to me, said goodbye to Dad, and walked off.
Dad went inside to do whatever he needed to do, and I followed him in, still trying to place where I had seen that woman before. She was beautiful, familiar, but I couldn’t connect the dots. I knew I hadn’t seen her at any of Dad’s office parties.
It wasn’t until we got back to the car that it hit me, The Carry On films. That was Barbara Windsor. I asked Dad if it really was her, and how he knew her.
He answered as casually as if I had asked him the time. Yes, it was Barbara Windsor. And he knew her because he had been interviewing her that morning. My dad, the tax inspector who never spoke about work or the people he dealt with, had spent the morning with Barbara Windsor and hadn’t said a word. The only reason I found out was because she greeted him by name in front of me.
It is funny how life loops back. Years later, when Barbara appeared in EastEnders as Peggy Mitchell, my mum’s resemblance to her, the look, the voice, the attitude, earned Mum the nickname “Peggy.” It stuck instantly.
I remember taking my boss Chris from British Gas to see a band once. I had told him my mum’s name was Peggy. When she opened the door, he realised he had been set up, but he still greeted her with a straight faced “Hello Peggy.” He played along brilliantly.
Barbara Windsor was a legend. But my mum was a bigger one. And Chris, you were a legend at the Gas Board, mate.
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