A celebration lunch will be held at Quex Barn in Birchington on December 22 to mark the 105th birthday of Westgate resident Frances Castwood.
Frances was born in London on December 22, 1912, the year the Titanic sunk, but moved to Maidstone in 1938 when she married Edward (Ted) Prince.
Whilst Ted saw out the war in the Tank Corps via Tobruk and El Alamein, Frances endured the V1 buzz bom) attacks as 100 of them passed over Maidstone on their deadly way to London.
After the war the couple moved to Ramsgate and later to Farnborough, Kent, but after Ted’s death she moved back to Birchington. She later married Geoff Castwood and moved to Sidcup. After a few very happy years, Geoff died and Frances returned to her “home” area and has lived in Westgate ever since.
Frances is an indomitable lady with a lively interest in people and news. She had open heart surgery in 1997 but still lives in her own flat with support from family, friends and carers. Although now frail and with poor hearing and eyesight, she enjoys company and especially leaving her flat and going to see friends or out to lunch.
She is particularly fond of Quex Barn and last year was asked to officially reopen the restaurant for business after its reconstruction due to fire damage.
She will be celebrating at Quex Barn with friends and family and is due to receive a second birthday card from HM The Queen.
In the year Frances was born:
King George V was on the throne
Liberal H. H. Asquith was Prime Minister
British polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott and a team of four reach the South Pole to find that Roald Amundsen had beaten them to it.
Suffragettes smash shop windows in the West End of London
The RMS Titanic: strikes an iceberg and sinks on her maiden voyage from the United Kingdom to the United State
: Great Britain and Ireland compete at the Olympics in Stockholm and win 10 gold, 15 silver and 16 bronze medals.
Actor John Le Mesurier and politician Enoch Powell are born
Writer Bram Stoker dies