A FORMER Birkenhead Mayoress has been honoured for her many years of service to the borough.

Blanche Barrow, nee Gill, became the youngest Mayoress of Birkenhead to her uncle Harry Dawson when she was 19-years-old Blanche then was appointed a second time but as Mayoress of Bebington for her mother.

In July 1957, she met the Queen and Prince Philip on their travels to Wirral but some council attendants had their reservations about the meeting with Blanche being so young.

Proving them wrong Blanche made a good impression on the Royal visitors and everyone was impressed with how she dealt with the event.

She spent 35 years of her life as a school governor in places such as Dell Primary School and Mendall Primary School before being appointed the chairwoman of governors at Brackenwood Juniors, holding this position until she was diagnosed with dementia four years ago.

Now aged 78, Blanche now lives at Birkenhead Court residential home. Wirral Mayor Cllr Pat Hackett visited the home and paid tribute to Blanche’s many years of service.

Blanche’s daughter Helen has spent years trying to get some recognition for her mother and wrote to the Mayor outlining the things Blanche had done for Wirral.

She told the Globe: “I was in the process of getting all the references required to apply for an Honour for her when my sister Sue got cancer and unfortunately everything just got put to one side.

“Mum never recovered from Sue dying and was diagnosed with dementia not long after – the Honours system states you must still be doing the work for which you are applying as so because of her illness I am unable to apply for something I believe she fully deserves.

“I wrote to the Mayor to let him know about my mum and he kindly invited us to visit him at his chambers and we took along all the photos.”

“It was great as mum remembered so much and you could see how happy she was to meet him and discuss it all. Obviously her memory loss was still there and she got confused sometimes but it was the best I had seen her in ages.

“He wanted to arrange a meeting at her residential home and present her with a bouquet of flowers as a small token of gratitude for the work she has done.

“The home was made up that he came to visit with all the residents enjoying sherry and mince pies. The home has been a fantastic place for my mum and I can’t thank them enough for everything they have done and continue to do.”