I spend time knitting squares which get made into blankets for the St Vincent de Paul Society in Leeds. I enjoy feeding the wild birds and the pigeons in my garden. I’ve had a very interesting life really!

I was born in 1930 to Jessie and Fred Clarke and we lived in Scholes, which was a small village then. The houses were surrounded by fields and I think rhubarb was growing at that time.

I went to the local school and one thing that sticks out in my mind is that during the war there were evacuees from Cross Gates who came to stay in the village. This meant I only went to school for half the time with the other children going the other half.

My Christian life was very important and Oxford Place Methodist Chapel which we called ‘OP’ was a special place with lots of happy memories.

We were quite well off, as my Dad had a good job and we were one of few families to have a car. Sadly, my Dad died of heart failure, whilst driving through Kippax on his way to work in Castleford.

My Mum remarried when I was 10 giving me not only a new Dad, but two new brothers and a sister.

I left school at 14 and went to work on the telephone switchboard at the Utilus Clothing Company. I used to try their coats on.

I went to a night school to learn touch-typing and later moved to work for the London and Lancashire Insurance Company in East Parade. I used to cycle to work each day and when it was foggy cars followed close behind me as I guided them on the road.

I loved to sing and I joined the choir at Oxford Place where we sang oratorios including Handel’s Judas Maccabeus and The Messiah. I still have the music and I hope someone will want the books when I’ve gone.

I married my first husband Walter in 1954, though I wasn’t his first choice as his fiancée had fallen ill and died. We had four children, two boys and two girls, but Walter was poorly and died. Then my youngest son Christopher, who was born with spina bifida, also died. I worked for a while at the special school that he attended. It was a very difficult time for me but I had to learn to be adaptable. I was lucky to marry again in 1968 to my second husband Harry. He had been recently widowed and we moved to live with him and his only son.

Our children all got married and I have grandchildren and great–grandchildren too.

My husband Harry died quite a few years ago so again I had to adapt. I think that is a gift I have been given, to be adaptable.