Conor:
She’s called Lorna and comes from Scotland. First saw her at Lancaster services several years ago when she was in her late teens. Saw her a few months ago and time hasn’t been kind, I don’t think she’s even 30 yet. Once saw here sat in the foyer at 2am at Tibshelf services one winter. Went in and bought her a Maccy’s meal.
Says she’s interested in going back home to her parents but won’t accept offers to.
Sadly I get the feeling from some of the things she’s said that she gets abused by some of the drivers who give her a lift because she is under the influence. When I saw her last time and said it’d been a while since I’d seen her she asked if she had behaved herself the previous time.
A shame but she seems to have little interest in being helped.
She thumbed a lift from me a few years ago - just outside Penrith on the A66, I stopped because at midnight seeing someone stood there my first thought was they needed help. She told me she had been living in Glasgow and had been on the game, then staying with a lorry driver who helped her out for a bit but ‘needed’ to get away. Although in good spirits and pretty good company, she was in a real state hygiene wise and clearly a deeply troubled soul, I gave her some food and made a brew in the lorry and offered her a few quid to get cleaned up in the services. She wasn’t really interested, just wanted to keep moving I think.
I spoke to Tramp Lady in Exeter services as she was going around asking for a lift. In our short conversation it became apparent that she had no interest in getting a ‘normal’ life, was quite happy to be just as she was. Although using her situation to invite pity, she actually is there by choice. For certain, a homeless female would be provided with housing by the council. In any case, if anyone wanted to take advantage, they would need to be wearing a full hazmat suit.
She stopped me tonight at Charnock Richard, she looked much more healthy but still very mistrustful, she said she has been on the road for 10 years now but I have seen her for the last 17+ years, she is now 45 years old and just wants a little money so she can keep moving, she asked me where I lived and I said in a house and why doesn’t she live in accommodation, she said that she would have to live amongst the loonies and that’s why she lives on the road.
Her parents have now passed but she has brothers and sisters but doesn’t have anything to do with them, she asked for some pennies and I gave her a fiver as it was all I had she said it was a lot to her and got her an orange juice, she had a bag with bread and food and was waiting to get the £11 to do her washing at the machine in services and a hot shower then move on, it is really sad but she does it because she wants to and not live with the loonies like she said, overall it’s the healthiest I’ve ever seen her, her teeth looked a bit better and her hair looked good, but yes still very wary so please be nice to her if she accosts you.f
The government of the day closed the asylums after pressure from the Main Stream Media.They were fed alarming stories by the civil servants of the health department and mental health charities. It was the experts in the mental health system who advocated the ‘care in the community’ hype. Believing they alone knew what would be best for the inmates of the asylums and local mental health hospitals.
