From: Bette Everett
by email
Does anyone remember Sister Charlesly of the Salvation Army? My sister and I, along with assorted cousins, used to go with her to the local Army Hall every Sunday, morning and afternoon. She was like the Pied Piper as we used to wait by our gates for her and then troop behind her to the Hall. We all absolutely loved her and I think she lived in Colls Road. At the top of King Arthur Street, where we lived there, was a pub called The Railway Tavern and Sister Charlesly used to go in there every Sunday evening selling The War Cry. The customers were a pretty rough lot (including my Dad, grandfathers and uncles) but to a man they respected her. What a lovely lady she was. What happened to her? Does she still have relatives living in Peckham?
My sister and older cousins were training to be Guards (the Sally Army’s Guides) but as I was too young to be a Guard I was a Sunbeam. How cute is that! I still get a laugh from that one even after all these years. How we loved to march on certain Sundays and how proud my big sister was as she carried the flag. Happy days! I still go to the Boscombe Salvation Army when they have Christmas concerts and they are absolutely brilliant. We really had a wonderful childhood in spite of the war years.
