Comments on: Joan Lauder, The Cat Lady Of Spitalfields https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/11/30/joan-lauder-the-cat-lady-of-spitalfields/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Tue, 05 Dec 2023 22:42:58 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.5.13 By: Susan Shepard https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/11/30/joan-lauder-the-cat-lady-of-spitalfields/#comment-1530571 Tue, 05 Dec 2023 22:42:58 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=198279#comment-1530571 My late mother would have found a kindred spirit in Joan, including trapping and spaying feral cats. God rest both of their souls.

]]> By: Rachel Jowitt https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/11/30/joan-lauder-the-cat-lady-of-spitalfields/#comment-1529802 Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:52:09 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=198279#comment-1529802 I remember seeing this lady around when I worked at the school in Gunthorpe St in the very early 90s. And the White Hart cat, who lived at my local.

]]> By: Jo N https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/11/30/joan-lauder-the-cat-lady-of-spitalfields/#comment-1529772 Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:31:12 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=198279#comment-1529772 What a kind lady, looking out for the cats in all weathers. And she must have spent a lot of her own money on the food.

Is it so strange to call cats darlings..? Mine are probably called that more than anything else, as darlings they are!

]]> By: Kitty Shepherd https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/11/30/joan-lauder-the-cat-lady-of-spitalfields/#comment-1529769 Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:03:10 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=198279#comment-1529769 We have cat ladies here where I live in Granada Spain. They are exactly the same, diligent and dedicated to their daily routine of visiting the cats in this area. What would these cats do without them!

]]> By: Severine https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/11/30/joan-lauder-the-cat-lady-of-spitalfields/#comment-1529768 Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:59:22 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=198279#comment-1529768 What an interesting lady! I wish I could have met her. Lovely post.

]]> By: Milo https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/11/30/joan-lauder-the-cat-lady-of-spitalfields/#comment-1529760 Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:21:29 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=198279#comment-1529760 Great story. There used to be a similar lady who haunted the streets around where i lived off Westbourne grove in the 80’s. Vivian was her name and she would wander hither and thither with her bags, almost bent double with the strain. Every now and again you’d see her in the Woolworths on Queensway when she would divest herself of her old trainers – never tied – and purchase a new pair, leaving the old pair where they were. Wizened face like a walnut topped by a woolly hat. What a character…

]]> By: Mathilde Grange https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/11/30/joan-lauder-the-cat-lady-of-spitalfields/#comment-1529758 Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:08:21 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=198279#comment-1529758 Thank you! What a wonderful story.

]]> By: Christine Swan https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/11/30/joan-lauder-the-cat-lady-of-spitalfields/#comment-1529744 Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:35:43 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=198279#comment-1529744 I think that Joan was part cat. Except that cats generally don’t befriend other cats but keep them at a respectable and wary distance. The cats definitely would have helped to control the rats but I am sure that they appreciated the supplementary diet provided by Joan.

Isn’t it sad that society isolates elderly people? Thank you to all of the kindly people who took the time to talk to her, take photographs and tell her story.

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