Gloria was born in Jamaica in 1943. She came to the UK when she was just 15 years old. She says the reason she looks for good for a 76-year-old is that she ’no smoke, no drink and no bleaching’ (bleaching means -staying up late).
Gloria has had quite an eventful life. She used to be a model and appeared on several Reggae album covers. In the late 60’s she worked at Bobby Moores’ leather coat factory in Liverpool Street. She told me that the England legend would often come into the factory and that he was a 'decent man'.
She was working in Harrods when it was bombed by the IRA in 1983. Luckily she was in the canteen at the time on one of the upper floors so was unharmed. She’s worked for the Ministry of Defence and was working as a chef in Wandsworth prison in the 90’s during the infamous riots. Again, she was lucky that she was in a part of the prison that wasn’t affected.
She now owns ‘Gloria’s’ in Tooting Market which specialises in Caribbean groceries. The market is changing with lots of new trendy food stalls coming in but Gloria has her regulars and is doing good.
She loves living in the UK - ‘You will not find another country like this. If you are livin’ in England - You are livin’ good! - there’s nothing better than the English- I’m not going to ever live nowhere else’.
RIP Gloria ‘Miss G’ 1943-2022
