Life of former Lowestoft evacuee celebrated at memorial event
Shirley Glover, front left, with some of her cousins at Glossop Station. - Credit: Friends of Glossop Station
Touching tributes were paid at a memorial event to mark the life of a former Lowestoft wartime evacuee.
A celebration of the life of Sheila Glover (nee Catchpole) was held during the event at Glossop Station in Derbyshire on Saturday.
A special event will be held in memory of the late Sheila and Peter Glover. - Credit: Friends Of Glossop Station
Organised by the Friends of Glossop Station, more than 40 friends and relatives of Sheila attended the memorial in tribute to her and her late husband Peter.
In June 1940, aged nine, Sheila and five of her siblings were among 3,000 Lowestoft schoolchildren and teachers evacuated during the Second World War, of which 600 found safety in the Derbyshire town of Glossop.
Sheila attended local schools and it was where she met future husband Peter for the first time.
When the war ended, Sheila decided to stay in Glossop and forged a new life although her links with her hometown remained strong.
Peter and Sheila Glover on their wedding day - Credit: Courtesy of Lowestoft Evacuees Association
Shelia and Peter married in 1953 and lived in Glossop for more than 40 years, with their only daughter Shirley.
The couple also fostered 37 children many of whom remained close to the family.
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After Shelia died in 2019 and Peter in 2020, due to pandemic restrictions, family and friends had been unable to gather as they would have wished.
Therefore the special event on Saturday was arranged by daughter Shirley in conjunction with the Friends of Glossop Station, which featured a special display created in the Waiting Room with paintings and pictures donated by Shirley.
Shirley with long standing family friend, David Jones, in front of the display about her parents at Glossop Station. - Credit: Friends of Glossop Station
During a short address to guests, Neil Williams, chairman of the Friends of Glossop Station spoke on behalf of Shirley about her parents, emphasising the significance of the tribute taking place at the station because it was the first place in Glossop that Shelia experienced on her arrival in 1940.
Among those attending the event in memory of Sheila and Peter Glover were Iris and Sheila, two former Lowestoft evacuees who also made their homes in Glossop after the war ended.
Over the years, Sheila and Peter’s links to Lowestoft remained strong and they visited friends and family in the town every year.
Sheila and Peter Glover (centre) on a visit to see Lowestoft evacuee friends Geoff and Jean Durrant, while on holiday at Lowestoft in 2014. - Credit: Courtesy of Chris Brooks
In the 1990s Sheila and Peter became staunch supporters of the Lowestoft Evacuees Association created by Chris Brooks to organise reunions and arrange trips to the Derbyshire towns and villages in which the evacuees had found safety, attending many events held both in Glossop and Lowestoft.
Mr Williams said: “It was a great privilege to represent the Friends of Glossop Station and to have the opportunity to pay a special tribute to Sheila and Peter amongst some of their many friends and family.
“Their daughter Shirley was very touched by the event and thrilled to see so many gathered together to celebrate their memory.”
The special display in tribute to Sheila and Peter can be viewed daily in the Waiting Room at Glossop Station.
This Saturday, at noon, Mr Brooks will be presented with the Freedom of the Town by the Mayor of Lowestoft, Alan Green in recognition of his work with former evacuees at a special ceremony taking place at Lowestoft railway station.
