Felixstowe woman Betty Storey celebrates her 100th birthday

Family and friends of Betty Storey, from Felixstowe, threw a surprise party at the town's rugby club in Mill Lane at the weekend ahead of her big day today.

Mrs Storey said it was "wonderful" to have reached the landmark age and shared that her secret to a long and happy life were her grandchildren.

Betty Storey turned 100 on Tuesday (Image: Rachel Philpot)

Mrs Storey was born on October 22 1924 in Trimley St Mary and went to school in the village.

After school, she went into the into the Women’s Land Army when she was 18 years old.

The Women’s Land Army was established in World War One, but was re-founded shortly before the outbreak of World War Two, in June 1939, to provide extra agricultural labour. 

“She was in the greenhouses and looked after tomatoes” explained her daughter Jennifer Scott.

 Mrs Storey, moved Gulpher Farm, on Gulpher Road, Felixstowe to work as a housekeeper and cared for children in the farmhouse.

This was where she met her husband, Douglas Storey, who worked on the farm, and they married on April 2, 1955 and had two children together, Martin and Jennifer.

Betty Storey in a greenhouse 

The couple married in 1955 (Image: Betsy Studd) Mrs Storey lived with her husband on the farm in a cottage until his death before moving to her home in Felixstowe.

The family added the 100-year-old has kept very active, only giving up riding her push bike very recently. 

Mrs Scott, a mum of four, added: "She is very self-sufficient, still cooks for herself and does everything.

“She's the heart of the family. She's always been there for everybody and she's just everybody's friend. She’s quite a fantastic woman.”

Mrs Scott, 64, has four children of her own and they in turn have given Mrs Storey 10 great-grandchildren.

Betty returned to Gulpher Farm where she posed with a cow mascot during a family fun day event