Family gather for 100th birthday

They included Maude Whiter's great great nephews and neicesas well as her younger sister, Jessie Reynolds.

Mrs Whiter was born in Walthamstow in east London as part of a family of six with a father who was a railway porter.

She was married to Jack in 1927 and they stayed together for more than 50 years until his death.

The couple lived in Walthamstow up to 1936 when Mrs Whiter bought a house in Romford in Essex.

She used one of its rooms to carry on her work as a dressmaker and seamstress.

These were skills she kept up well into her 90s and without the need to wear glasses. She still has perfect vision.

From Romford, her next move was to the Lake District in about 1960.

She stayed in the picturesque area for some 20 years before she moved to Heathfield in East Sussex to be closer to members of her family.

The next stop was the Aldwick Road home of her neice, Marian Waran, where Mrs Whiter has lived for the past six years with the help of a team of carers.

Mrs Reynolds said: 'My sister is strong willed. She always ran her home and worked from there.'