Lively Florence turns 100

Florence Higgs, who lives on Pinner Green, turned 100 on Thursday February 16 and still goes to the supermarket and lives independently.

Her son David, 63, said: "She reads a lot of books, I think that's how she keeps her mind so active and she watches the shows on TV like Countdown, and she gets annoyed when she doesn't get the number one before they do. Her mental arithmetic is still amazing."

Mrs Higgs, known as Flo, moved to Hatch End in the 1920s to work as a maid for the vicarage, where she met her future husband Ned, who was a porter at Headstone Lane station.

The pair married and after Mr Higgs went to war and returned safely he died in 1966 and she has been living by herself ever since.

The great-grandmother of two and grandmother of two lives independently and is very mobile and travelled extensively in her 70s and 80s.

Her son said: "She has a fantastic memory as well and talks about how Harrow used to be when it was just all fields. They used to walk across the fields to get from Headstone Lane to Pinner."

The lively and friendly birthday girl celebrated with people from the sheltered housing where she lives on Thursday and had a family party on Saturday.

Mr Higgs, who has two children and lives in North Harrow, said: "I don't know if she has a secret for long life, but she enjoys a glass of wine every night with dinner and has a little tipple of whiskey every night before she goes to bed."