Violet celebrates 103rd birthday at St Mary’s Care Home, in Crostwick, near Norwich
Violet Webb celebrated her big day with a family visit and a birthday party shared with her friends at the Kingsley Healthcare home.
Violet was born in Northampton and after leaving school at 14, she worked in a shoe factory.
She remembers one of her colleagues there was the future famous comedian Des O’Connor who she described as a “cheeky chap who would keep everyone entertained”.
During the Second World War, she served in the Land Army and worked on the fields for different farms around Northampton. She loved the countryside.
She met her future husband Stewart during this time and they got married in 1949, moving to the village of Great Houghton, in Northamptonshire.
They lived happily together and brought up their three children, Linda, Andrew and Bill.
Violet was a cricket lover and used to watch her husband play.
Violet at 18
on holiday at Caister
They loved family holidays to Caister Holiday Park and when they retired in 1988, moved to the village near Great Yarmouth.
Violet recalls they used to drink at the Never Turn Back pub and were good friends and supporters of the Caister Lifeboat crew, especially former coxswain Benny Read, who died in a tragic accident during a callout in 1991.
They moved back to Hackleton, Northamptonshire in 2011 to be close to their family.
Violet’s husband sadly died shortly after the move; she decided to move back to Norfolk with Bill and his wife Aileen in 2019.
She lived in North Walsham during the Covid pandemic and moved into St Mary's Care Home in April 2022.
Home manager Iwona Szumilas said: “Whenever you ask Violet what her secret is for such a long life she tells you she wishes she knew.
“However, this wonderful lady certainly knows how to live, she actively participates in games, baking, visits with the children from Friend in Deed, bus trips, flower arranging, knitting, painting and many more of the activities on offer each week.
“She’s also a great person to have a chin wag with over a cuppa and a biscuit.”
wedding day
On Caister lifeboat
Violet with her cake
