00:00 So we're just here in Shrewsbury and I just stumbled upon you sitting in the garden like this on a lovely summer's day.
00:07 In this beautiful sunshine.
00:09 104 gives it away in the background.
00:11 Hilda, I believe it's your birthday, is that right?
00:15 Yes.
00:17 104 years young, that's what we should say isn't it?
00:20 Yeah.
00:21 Joyce, this is your mum isn't it?
00:23 It is, yeah.
00:24 So she was living independently up until a good age wasn't she?
00:27 Yeah, she was nearly 101.
00:29 Yeah, that's good going isn't it?
00:31 You've got to be ready for a long getting into yourself then, she's got some good genes, family genes going on there.
00:36 Well you would think so, but you just never know do you?
00:39 And she's got a little tot of baileys there. You like a little tot still don't you? A tot of baileys or what's your tipple? What do you like?
00:46 Er, just, just...
00:49 A glass of wine?
00:51 Yeah, any glass of wine and nothing special.
00:55 Only the baileys on a special day.
00:58 Ah, I've got you.
00:59 And what about the brandy at night?
01:01 Yes, yes we would, the brandy.
01:04 So if I'm going to ask you, what's kind of the key to a good fulfilling long life, what tips would you, what would you say, what would you say back to me?
01:15 Yeah, yeah.
01:18 What would you say?
01:20 About what, the cake?
01:22 No, not the cake, you like cake. What would you say to Steve, if, what's the secret of you being so old?
01:33 This is Steve is it?
01:35 That's Steve, yeah.
01:36 What's the secret?
01:37 Well I don't plan anything to be with it, I've just always done the right thing and worked hard.
01:49 Hard.
01:50 I've always worked hard.
01:52 Yeah?
01:53 Yes.
01:54 And what did you used to do then? What was Connie...
01:56 I worked in the laundry.
01:58 Yeah? Washing knickers?
02:00 Washing knickers.
02:03 That was how you met Dad.
02:05 I used to sort them out and when they were washed, I used to sort them out.
02:12 Yeah.
02:13 That's where you met Dad, wasn't it, in the laundry?
02:16 He was the driver.
02:18 Was he?
02:19 In the army.
02:21 Did he used to come and pick the laundry up, did he?
02:25 Yes.
02:26 There you go.
02:27 Yeah, there you go.
02:28 And that was in Bolton.
02:29 Bolton?
02:30 Bolton, Lancashire.
02:31 Yeah, yeah.
02:33 So Peter Kay's territory, isn't it Bolton?
02:36 Yeah.
02:37 Good sense of humour, the Bolton people, I'm getting that from you anyway.
02:40 I never used to go out for a meal, I didn't drop the laundry off.
02:45 So that was your early dating days.
02:47 So what was courtship like back in the day?
02:50 So you'd get your undies washed, you'd get your garments washed,
02:54 and then he'd come and take you for a nice meal, would he?
02:59 Yes.
03:00 Yeah?
03:01 There were always more than one because he was a driver, there was two drivers,
03:08 so the three of us used to go out for a meal.
03:11 Yeah.
03:12 And what did you used to do back then for fun?
03:14 Now we've got computers and that.
03:16 What did you used to like to do when you was a young lady?
03:19 Was it going out dancing or going to the movies?
03:22 Oh, I used to go out to the dances and the pictures and just, you know, noble things.
03:29 Yeah?
03:30 Yeah, we didn't do anything special, unless it was somebody's birthday we'd have a party.
03:38 Yeah?
03:39 That was all.
03:40 She likes parties.
03:41 Yeah.
03:42 And what about your favourite place over the years to go on holiday?
03:45 Any particular places you've fallen in love with?
03:48 Yeah, Cleveland and Blackpool.
03:50 Okay, yeah.
03:51 We used to go.
03:52 Yeah.
03:53 Was that an annual trip, was it like a once a year trip?
03:56 Yes, with my family, because the children were only small,
04:03 and we used to go to the same people.
04:08 Yeah?
04:09 And it was an ordinary house, there was nothing special.
04:13 Yeah.
04:14 And we used to go there once a year to Cleveland.
04:18 Lovely.
04:19 And that was all that I can think of.
04:26 Yeah?
04:27 Of holidays, because it was nothing, as you say, special.
04:32 Yeah.
04:33 Well, thank you, Hilda, for sharing a few old memories with us at The Shropshire Star.
04:38 Thank you, and enjoy the rest of your birthday.
04:39 Thank you very much.
04:40 Big cheer at the back, family and friends for Hilda.
04:43 Yay!
04:44 Yay!
04:45 Yay!
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