Alnwick centenarian receives letter from the King and Queen Consort

Over 40 family and friends gathered to celebrate Helen’s birthday including the youngest, Euan, who was born on July 11.

Helen’s niece, Anne Suddes, said: “It was quite a sight to see four generations with a span of 100 years.”

Helen was born at Old Felton in 1923, and was the second child of Elizabeth and Alexander Forster with an older sister, Joyce and two younger brothers, Tom and Colin.

She remembers the farm in Old Felton, where she still visited every week, until recently, to help with the vegetable garden.

Her memories include horses being used to plough the fields, milking the house cow, and even German prisoners of war working on the farm, with a particular memory of her mother making a 21st birthday cake for out of the rations, for a Hans Forster, as he had the same surname as the family.

After the war, Helen took a reconstruction exam and was posted to the Air Ministry in London where she thoroughly enjoyed her time and was personal assistant to three Air Marshals.

She also has a particular memory of going to Mr Teasy Weasy, Britain’s first celebrity hairdresser, to have her hair styled and had many compliments on her new hair do.

Helen later moved to Glasgow to work as a civil servant and met her late husband, John. They retired in Tenerife in the 1980s but moved back to England and settled in Alnwick, not far from Old Felton.