Queen Eleanor, Valerie … and 'Old Ninety'

New Year’s Eve, 1892.

A winter crowd gathered at Waltham Cross, drawn by curiosity, tradition, and the presence of one of Hertfordshire’s most recognisable figures: Lady Valerie Meux. Standing on the steps of the newly restored Eleanor Cross, she revived a medieval custom that had not been seen for centuries, the distribution of alms in memory of Queen Eleanor of Castile, beloved wife of King Edward I.

Fresh from the Mint, 360 shillings were handed out to the “aged and deserving poor” of the neighbourhood. Valerie presided over the ceremony with the theatrical flair that had become her trademark.

AI brings the past back to life as the long-gone gather once more at the base of Eleanor Cross in modern day Waltham Cross.

Among the recipients was a familiar face.

Locals knew him as “Old Ninety”, though he was not ninety, nor even close. His real name was Mr Sainsbury, a local character who made a habit of appearing whenever Valerie visited Walklate’s, a shop on the High Street. For people who know this area, the site is now occupied by Fishpools Department Store.

The moment she approached the door, he would materialise, open it with exaggerated courtesy, and wait hopefully for a tip. His nickname came from his prematurely aged appearance; though middle‑aged, he looked ancient.

On this particular day, he stepped forward for his shilling, a coin reserved for those aged sixty and above.

Valerie recognised him instantly.

“You’re not over sixty,” she told him.

“Yes, I am,” he insisted. “I’m Ninety.”

Whether he received his shilling is lost to history, but the exchange became part of local folklore, a tiny comic moment set against the solemnity of a medieval ritual reborn.

Eleanor Cross, Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. Photograph: Paul Boughton (taken Sunday, 27th September 2026.

The restoration of the Eleanor Cross had begun years earlier, in 1885, under the presidency of Sir Henry Meux, Valerie’s husband. He pledged to purchase and demolish the buildings that obscured the monument, including the old Falcon Inn, and reopen the roadway so the cross could be seen once more in its full Gothic splendour.

Photograph: Paul Boughton (taken Sunday, 27th September 2026).

Fishpools Department Store now occupies the site of Walklate's on the High Street. The Four Swans are reminder of a public house of the same name which was opposite the store. The original swans are now in Lowewood Museum, Hoddesdon. Photograph: Paul Boughton (taken Sunday, 27th September 2026).

Today, the Eleanor Cross at Waltham Cross remains one of only three surviving medieval Eleanor Crosses in England. Erected in 1290 to mark the resting places of Queen Eleanor’s funeral procession, it stands at the junction of High Street and Eleanor Cross Road, a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Monument, still watching over the town as it has for more than seven centuries.

And on one cold New Year’s Eve in 1892, it watched Lady Valerie Meux revive a royal tradition, confront a local legend, and leave behind yet another story woven into the fabric of Waltham Cross.

Source: Rooke, Peter. Cheshunt Life in Victorian and Edwardian Days, Peter Rooke, Cheshunt, 1983; Standing, Percy Cross. Memorials of old Hertfordshire, Bemrose and Sons, Limited, Hertfordshire, 1905.