Doris and the trolley

Pleasant to note Peter Mosley's honourable mention of the 85 Fleet Street tea trolley (Haunts - London: 85). I am sure he would endorse this tribute to the incomparable Doris who steered that vehicle through the second and fourth floor editorials during much of the 1960s. I spent only five in total of my 34 Reuter years in London (and two of those tucked away in a management post outside 85) but the always cheerful arrival of Doris was a daily highlight of my editorial stints on the fourth floor between foreign postings. She was diminutive for a Jamaican (or perhaps she hailed from Barbados, I cannot remember for sure), pretty, but above all vivacious and humorous. In terms of gastronomy, I usually held the contents of her trolley in low esteem. But, like some colleagues who also failed to relish the food and tea she served, I always dutifully lined up just to savour her wit. Though she was probably younger than many of us, her jokes were often flavoured with motherly concern. If someone looked unwell, or merely showed the effects of a long break in the Cogers, she noticed and did her best to make the sufferer smile. A great lady... ■