Published in Friends of Battersea Park Review January 2010
Told by a mutual friend to expect “ a very lovely personality”, I approached my first ever interview with Lady Trumpington with a huge sense of anticipation , somewhat overawed with the task of engaging with one of the most formidable personalities living in Battersea.
Consider this skeleton CV: One of Lloyd George’s landgirls before serving in naval intelligence at the WW2 codebreaking Bletchley Park, a one-time councillor and Mayor of Cambridge, a minister of state and now , aged 87 year an assiduous House of Lords backbencher – in the words of one political commentator, “a mighty monument”.
Lady Trumpington, was far from stationary when I visited her in her groundfoor flat Prince of Wales Drive just before Christmas. Parliament which she dutifuly attends every working day, had just gone into recess and she was busily making up for lost time, wrapping Christmas presents and arranging an outing for dinner and bridge. Her beautifully decorated flat showed no signs of the fire that nearly destroyed it some four years ago, and she was happy to focus on the better memories of living by the Park over more than two decades.
“While they were repairing my flat, a neighbour lent me hers, with a better view of the Park. I have always loved looking out of the window at the people, and the dogs, and the children playing ” she recalls. “I can’t do much walking these days but I still think I am frightfully lucky having a park like this, and I love the flowers and am looking forward to the planting of the new winter garden which the Friends are helping with.”
She has a small ground floor garden she lovingly looks after. “I have a small busy Robin who visits me and s small little Wren which is why I feel very strongly they should do something about the number of crows and magpies there are in the park. I want the little birds to survive.”
I had heard that Lady Trumpington had told a packed debate of the House of Lords not long ago that Canada geese had to be dealt with too. Could she elaborate? She was quick to. “They are the most disgusting birds that I know: they eat the younger birds, shit all over the place and make a even game of golf degrading and unattractive. Once I thought I’d try to cook a Canada goose to see what it tasted like. It came out all little and black. Quite horrible! They should be persuaded to leave the country or face being shot!”
I had also heard her during a session of Desert Island Discs choosing the Crown jewels as her one luxury “in order to maximise my chance of being rescued.” So I stretched the analogy and suggested a scenario where she suddenly found herself locked in Battersea Park in the middle of the night. What I asked her would her one luxury be then?
“Oh, no doubt, a bonfire to keep the furry creepy-crawlies from getting anywhere near me. You see I’m scared by things like, mice, and rats, and bats.”
In fairness, it’s hard to think of Lady Trumpington of being anything but a bastion of good sense and manners. While touched with a mild eccentricity, and gifted with a generous sense of humour, she retains a serious respect for tradition and her country’s great institutions. She misses the parades in the Park of the old brewery horse and carriages ,and bemoans the fact that has to shop in supermarkets because the local fishmonger, greengrocer, and butcher she frequented ij the 1980’s have long gone. She is is worried about the disease that seemed to be killing the old chestnut nearby, and is vocal in her criticism of local traffic arrangements (the lack of adequate public transport forces her to take a cab each day to teh Lords), and sceptical about the pledges made by developers.
“The development of Battersea Power Station only makes sense if you build another bridge and a tube station but I won’t be around to see that.”
As I thanked her for having me round, I asked her if she didn’t mind of I kept in touch with her. There seemed so much to talk about. “Delighted,” she answered with a big smile ,”only tell me you like having a drink. I’m not a tea person myself, definitely not.” I planned to be back.
