Local lives
Lisa Hooker, a florist who runs the Sandfords Flower Stall, is a consistently cheery presence on Marylebone High Street, working outside in all weathers. She grew up in north London and lives in Gospel Oak
Interview: Jean-Paul Aubin-Parvu
Images: Orlando Gili
My parents ran a pub in Kentish Town called the Malden Arms, but I always wanted to live in a normal house like my friends because we didn’t have a separate front door and had to go through the pub to get upstairs. I’d come home from school and my greeting was a smoky haze and the smell of beer. And you could never sneak off anywhere. People would always see you coming and going.
I can remember being outside all the time during the summer of 1976. The fruit and veg wholesalers around the corner had a big yard full of flatbed lorries. We’d be playing on them and would also go to Hampstead, Primrose Hill and the lido. We’d be out all the time. That’s the trouble nowadays—kids can’t play outside.
I went to a school just up the road and then to a convent, which luckily wasn’t too strict. I didn’t mind school, though I left without too many qualifications. But I did pass geography and so at least I knew my way home.
My first job was with a company called Kids International that tried to set up American-style summer camps over here. I was the office junior and would be sent on errands driving a Sinclair C5 that had been given to my boss by his friend, the inventor Sir Clive Sinclair. I always laugh when I think of me driving through London in one of those. How I didn’t get killed I’ll never know.
I then worked at University College Hospital, paying wages, and as a telephonist for BT. They’d send me somewhere different most weeks and I even got to work at Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London.
Learning on the job
One day I spotted a job advertised in the Standard for a trainee florist. I liked the sound of that and so phoned them up and started on the Monday. That was for a guy called William Hayford, who had several shops, including the one on Hanover Street. I learnt on the job, picked it up fairly quickly and ended up working there for about five years.
There was a flower shop just down the road from my parent’s pub. The owner wanted to retire and so I took the business over and was there for over 20 years. But when the lease came up, I decided that I needed a change. I started working on a freelance basis and also got plenty of work from people who knew me from the shop. One day I bumped into Peter, who I now work for on the Marylebone High Street stall. He asked if I could help him out for a couple of weeks—and that was maybe five, six years ago. The stall got busier and we’ve gradually built it up, making bouquets as well as selling bunches of flowers, and also doing contracts for local offices.
The thing I love most about my job is the people. My dad says that I must have been inoculated with a gramophone needle because I can talk for England. And Pete always says: “Just ask Lisa because she knows everything—even the name and address of the Unknown Warrior.” People often come to the stall and go: “The lady down the road said to come and ask you for directions to so and so.”
I talk to so many people from all walks of life through working on the stall. Marylebone has such a cross-section of people and you learn a lot from chatting to them. We have a lot of regulars. Some of them are picking up flowers for the local offices and surgeries, but many actually live in the area. For example, there’s one lady, Rita, who I don’t see much these days. She is 90 and has lived her whole life in Marylebone. Her parents had a cafe on Marylebone Lane, which the family lived above. They got bombed out and moved around the back of Moxon Street. And Rita has lived there ever since.
Famous faces
I have served a few famous faces. Joan Collins was really nice and I also served Eddie Redmayne when he was only just famous—in fact I didn’t recognise him at first. Jo Good from BBC Radio London comes past the stall all the time and we always have a laugh. And do you know Peter Saville? He’s the graphic designer who co-founded Factory Records and did all the artwork for Joy Division and New Order. He’s a lovely bloke and is from Manchester, so he’s normal—whereas with some people I meet, you wonder who got them dressed and out of the house in the morning, because they have people running around doing everything for them. They’re living in another world.
But all my customers are lovely, and we keep attracting new ones. People will often say: “Ooh, someone bought me some flowers from you. They were beautiful and lasted ages, so I’m going to buy from here now.” And I get so many people just stopping for a chat. People have just got used to me being here.
Marylebone is full of characters. There was one bloke, Kevin, who lived outside Waitrose for a few months. One time he drew little signs all over Waitrose’s window and the next day he drew all over himself. And have you seen that little lady who walks along with the gold hat, robes and a big gold stick? She walks along singing to herself and will sometimes stop briefly to say hello. Marylebone High Street is one of those streets where people feel comfortable being who they are. You can be exactly what you want to be. I just love this street.
You do get used to working outside in the cold weather. You just have to wrap up for it and be prepared. Saying that, there were a couple of days last winter when I could have cried. But then there’s the summer—everybody wants my job in August.
A lovely start
I love walking around London. This city changes so quickly. They’re either putting up a building or knocking one down. And I just feel like I’m really lucky where I live. I can come out my house and walk to work through Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park—what a lovely start to the day.
I wouldn’t want to move out of London and be one of those people who has to catch three buses into the centre of town. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. The countryside is great for a day out. You go to a country pub, have your dinner and come home again. But I wouldn’t want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere. I can walk to the end of my road and catch the 24 bus right into the West End. Lovely!
Of course, there are things about London that I don’t like such as the congestion, the traffic. The other thing that gets on my nerves is people with mobile phones who either just stop suddenly in the street or walk into people. I had someone literally walk into my stall once.
I talk on the phone because I have to, but I’d much rather speak to somebody face to face. And I’m not into social media. I’m not on Instagram or Facebook, none of them. What worries me is that kids won’t be able to interact soon. Their social skills will be gone and they won’t be able to talk. I know a girl who’s had two operations on her thumb caused by texting constantly on her phone. That’s a new illness: mobile phone thumb.