BARNARD Castle Meet’s annual parade is to be led by a “centenary” carnival queen, aged 99.
Gladys Sparks, from Charles Dickens Lodge in the town, will be taking part in her umpteenth Meet parade on May 28, just two months shy of her 100th birthday.
The nonagenarian, who has appeared in the past as Queen Elizabeth II and as a Hell’s Angel on a mobility scooter, has taken part in so many parades that she has forgotten the exact figure.
But she still vividly remembers watching her first parade age four. Mrs Sparks said: “When I was a little girl it was different then. My Aunt Lou, she used to have that little house on the corner and I would sit on the window and watch.”
Her father was a “Barney lad” but moved with his family to Copley, where Mrs Sparks lived for most of her life, becoming heavily involved in the village through its entertainment committee.
She said: “It was a good little village then. We used to have a carnival every year. We did everything there – pantomime and concerts. We had a real life.” She famously continued to play badminton well into her nineties, until she moved to Charles Dickens Lodge.
Mrs Sparks was a regular contributer for the Teesdale Mercury for more than 40 years, writing about activities in the village and later about happenings at the care home, where she was part of the entertainment committee.
She again became part of the Meet parade ever since the move to the home and said she felt honoured to be made carnival queen.
Mrs Sparks said: “It’s lovely. It’s an achievement at my age. There is not much I am not involved in. I’ve had a good life – a hard one, but a good one.”
Her 100th birthday on July 12 will initially be celebrated with tea with fellow Charles Dickens Lodge residents and later with a buffet at Butterknowle Village Hall on Saturday, July 14, where people can drop in between 4pm and 6pm.
