Banbury woman celebrates 100th birthday

Margaret Carpenter was born in 1920 on February 29, also commonly known as a leap day or leap year. She received a birthday card from the Queen, and her neighbours gave her a party on Saturday lunchtime in the Common Room in East Close.

She came to Banbury in the 1940s, and was married, but has no children. Her partner, Frank, died about 18 months ago. She worked as a chambermaid at the Crown hotel, at Hunt Edmunds brewery, and at Lockheed engineering, amongst many other places.

To mark the special day, the Royal Voluntary Service celebrated with Margaret in the Friday Day Centre that she attends regularly, at the Cornhill Centre, the day before.

She also joined the RVS volunteers and Cornhill Companions, as their guest of honour, when they went for a meal and get together at the Moon and Sixpence pub in Hanwell on her birthday itself.

Steve Kilsby, the RVS service manager, said: “Margaret is a wonderful woman with a wicked sense of humour. Her secret of long life she tells me, is 'hard work and worry…” I should have known…."