Woman pulls pint to mark 100th birthday
BBCA woman has celebrated her 100th birthday by pulling a pint at the pub where she used to work.
Hilda Hilton, who lives at the Orchid Care Home in Haydon Wick, Wiltshire, previously worked at the Shield and Dagger Pub in Swindon.
Hilda said: "I liked working in the pub. You'd meet a lot of people, talk to them, they'd tell you all their secrets."
After visiting the pub, Hilda returned to the care home where she was presented with 306 birthday cards sent from people in the local community.
Hilda, who had two children with her husband John, said her secret to living a long life was eating healthy food and not smoking.
"Apart from that, what can you do?" she added. "You've got to live, don't you?"
She said: "When you're young, you don't think about when you're getting old. Now I'm old, I think more about when I was young."
To mark Hilda's birthday, the Orchid Care Home launched a community initiative to collect 100 birthday cards for the occasion. The target was quickly surpassed, with 306 cards handed to the centenarian.
Beth Robinson-Harrington, lead activities coordinator at Orchid Care Home, said: "She feels very special today. She knows there are a lot of people who are thinking about her.
"We wanted 100 birthday cards for her 100th birthday. At last total, we had 306 cards from the local schools and the community, everyone has been amazing."
Nigel Hilton, Hilda's son, said he was "not surprised" his mother had reached 100.
He said: "She's strong in many ways... [the word] wilful comes to mind."
He described the birthday celebration as "very special" but added his mother was a "farm girl at heart" who probably thought it was "a lot of fuss for nothing".
A live ukulele band performed for Hilda at the care home, with Swindon's mayor Fay Howard also attending the party.
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