Work of female train guard celebrated with star

A woman has spoken of her great pride at seeing her mother honoured at King's Cross station for being one of the first women to be a train guard.

Lesley Cook, from Ipswich, went to London with her daughter Vicky last week to see the Hollywood-style walk of fame that has been created by LNER to pay tribute to women trailblazers within the rail industry.

Cook's mum, Gladys Garlick, from Hadleigh, served as one of the first LNER female guards, carrying out operational and safety duties that were normally performed by men.

She served during World War Two and was on duty as a guard when a V2 rocket hit the tracks just in front of her train at Palmers Green in October 1944.

"Mum was a good raconteur and she always used to tell the story of the V2 rocket landing on the track," Cook told Wayne Bavin on BBC Radio Suffolk Breakfast.

"She said if the train hadn't been a couple of minutes late, it would have been completely wiped out."

Garlick served as a guard at Bowes Park in London, alongside an all-female team which also included a booking officer and signal boss.

Cook said it was Garlick's railwayman father who first got her a job on the railways.

"They asked if she was a strong lass," she said. "And she was."

Garlick, who died aged 102 in 2024, would have been "so pleased and proud to be thought of as a pioneer", her daughter said.

"She always thought women were as good as men and could do the same as men."

The walks of fame have been installed at both King's Cross and York stations.

Other women celebrated include train driver Helen Donagher, whose quick thinking helped save a passenger's life and Rezwana Rahman - the first female LNER driver to wear a hijab.

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