Meet the UK’s longest-serving lollipop girl
After patrolling the same crossing for a staggering 55 years, not only is lollipop lady Irene Reid old enough to remember the grandparents of today’s pupils when they were little, but she actually escorted many of them to school.
Indeed there are several families where three generations can all say Mrs Reid helped them cross the road outside Longridge C of E Primary School in Lancashire.
Now 84, and believed to be Britain’s longest-serving lollipop lady, the great grandmother of ten has no plans to retire.
And she continues to remember the names of all the children she’s helped over the past half-century.
Among locals who remember when she first began patrolling Berry Lane in 1969 – often sporting a fashionable and traffic-stopping pair of red hot pants – are George Mayne, 64, and his wife Pamela, 65.
Irene Reid, 84, is believed to be Britain’s longest-serving lollipop lady
Mrs Reid pictured celebrating the birth of her daughter Cheryl in 1982
Mrs Reid with her daughter Angela (right), her grand daughter Cheryl Thornton (left) and her son Brody
Their daughters Rachel and Hannah both went on to be guided to and from school by Mrs Reid – and today, both entrust their children to the pillar of the local community which she has become.
‘She has been here day after day in all weathers,’ said grandmother Mrs Mayne.
‘When she is not outside the school, people miss her.’
Her husband added: ‘She is a stalwart of the community and just the sort of smiley, lovely person children need to start their day.’
Daughter Rachel Stringer, 40, remembers her kindness as a child, and her sons, Joshua, 12, and Noah, 8, have also relied on her throughout their years at the school.
‘She made sure children got home safe and they would hang around her if their parents hadn’t turned up to pick them up,’ she said.
‘She is just a warm human being that everyone trusts.’
The Maynes’ other daughter, Hannah Pickup, 34, has two daughters, Phoebe, 9, and Freya, 7, who now cross every school day with Mrs Reid – just like their mother and grandmother.
Mrs Reid has helped three generations of the same family across the road to get to Longridge Primary School. (left to right) Grandparents George and Pamela Mayne, Daughter Rachel Stringer with her sons Joshua, 12, and Noah, 8, and her daughter Hannah Pickup (blue top) with her daughters Phoebe, 9, and Freya, 7
Mrs Reid remembers the names of all the children she’s helped over the past half-century
There are several families where three generations can all say Mrs Reid helped them cross the road outside Longridge C of E Primary School in Lancashire
‘She has always been kind to every child and we all in turn love her for what she has done for us.’
Grandmother Karen Dewhurst, 59, remembers as a little girl first meeting the ‘lollipop lady’.
Her daughter Susan was helped across the same road by Mrs Reid – and now at the age of 33 it is the turn of her children Toby, 10, and Evie, 6.
‘On my first day she learnt my name and she has never forgotten it even all these years later,’ said Mrs Dewhurst.
Her daughter added: ‘I don’t know how she remembers everyone’s name but she does.
‘That is really important to children and that’s why Mrs Reid is so important to us.’
Mrs Reid first began patrolling Berry Lane in 1969 and has made many friends since
Mrs Reid pictured in 1982, 40 years into her role, after receiving the MBE she was awarded for services to road safety
Mrs Reid receiving an MBE from the late Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in 1982
Along the years, Mrs Reid’s status as a fixture of the Ribble Valley market town – she jokes that she is as permanent as the lamp-posts on Berry Lane – has earned her a string of accolades.
These range from the MBE she was awarded a mere 40 years into her role for services to road safety to a more recent appearance on Blankety Blank.
But none is as treasured as the cap badge she was awarded by the local fire crew.
‘A fire engine came up the road, and I was ushering the children out of the way thinking ‘Blimey, something’s up’,’ she recalls.
But it was only when it stopped outside school that she realised they were making her a special presentation – and of course all the faces were very familiar to her.
‘I’d helped every one of them across the road when they were kids,’ Mrs Reid added.
‘It means everything to me, more than the MBE.’
