Westgate resident Mollie Holden celebrated her 100th birthday on Thursday (September 28).
The day kicked off with her weekly hairdo at Style Icon, where Kirsty equipped her with a birthday sash and a mini tiara fixed in her hair.
Arriving home, the first job was to open a card from Buckingham Palace. Soon after, the next-door neighbours kindly brought in a birthday cake, but with only three candles!
Mollie has lived at her home in Westgate for 50 years and for more than 20 she hosted her local Scrabble club, so no surprise that the cake was decorated with Scrabble letters.
During the afternoon there was a non-stop flow of visitors and flowers, fortunately there were just enough flower vases and the supply of Prosecco held out.
The youngest visitors were two young boys who came with their parents after school.
The next day, the festivities were not over. Asked how she managed to keep so active, Mollie said: “I am lucky to be taken out for a drive most days and this ensures I keep in touch with the world.”
The most popular destination for Mollie is to have a coffee at Marks & Spencer at Westwood Cross. For such a loyal customer, the staff organised a little presentation, with more cake and flowers.
In the year Mollie was born -1923:
8 January – first outside broadcast by the British Broadcasting Company, a British National Opera Company production of The Magic Flute from the Royal Opera House.
18 January – the Postmaster General grants the BBC a licence to broadcast.
16 February – archaeologist Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Tutankhamun
26 April – wedding of Prince Albert, Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) in Westminster Abbey.
23 May – Stanley Baldwin succeeds Bonar Law as Prime Minister.
18 July – Matrimonial Causes Act establishes equal rights in divorce for men and women, making it possible for wives to divorce husbands for adultery
31 July – Liquor Act makes it illegal to sell alcohol to under-eighteens.
28 September – first publication of the Radio Times listings magazine by the BBC.
6 December – the 1923 United Kingdom general election, is won by the Conservative Party led by Stanley Baldwin but without enough seats to form a majority.
