Anne Naysmith, the Rag Lady, is a familiar sight in West London. I regularly bump into her as she pushes her supermarket cart around the streets or find her sitting in a corner of the post office where she scribbles endless notes on scraps of paper.
She is in the news this week because the trees and bushes in a London Underground carpark where she has made her home have been pulled down and the site cleared.
Miss Naysmith, 75, has a very interesting past. A cultured lady, she was once a well-known concert pianist and music teacher. After a series of family disputes and financial problems, she was evicted from her home in the 1970s. She then spent 30 years living in her Ford Consul car in the same street until the local council had the car towed away ten years ago. Since then she has been in the Transport for London car park.
The Rag Lady has tremendous local support and there is outrage that her leafy home has been demolished.
What a sad tale….. I do hope the locals can find her another place to have her being
Yes it is. Unfortunately, I suspect she refuses all help. Many have tried and there is no doubt she could be housed or otherwise looked after if she would agree.