Emsworth 100-year-old is still cracking jokes on her birthday
Maisie Hammersley, from Emsworth, has celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by her family, neighbours and friends.
Maisie was born and brought up in Southsea, where she worked as a seamstress until her marriage to Jack Hammersley in 1940, when she moved to Southbourne.
They had their son Patrick in 1959 and daughter Judy, in 1948. After a couple of years living in Surrey while Jack worked in London, the family moved to a new house in Emsworth in 1959. And Maisie has happily lived in the same house ever since.
Maisie has pursued a wide range of interests during her life. In the early days of her marriage, she bred cocker spaniels and grew vegetables to supplement the wartime diet.
She has always enjoyed gardening and only gave up the garden fork a couple of years ago.
Maisie’s creative skills are many and varied, including all kinds of sewing and knitting. She was also an active participant in the Havant WI craft market until it closed a few years ago.
Maisie loved living close to the sea and would always go for a swim whenever she got the chance. As an avid sports fan, she enjoyed watching rugby and tennis and used to play badminton. In quieter moments today, she is still an avid reader.
Maisie and Jack enjoyed many holidays together, in particular touring around France, and also staying in the New Forest in their caravan.
Although life at 100 is becoming challenging, Maisie has kept her excellent sense of humour, wit and positive outlook, and is loved dearly by her family and friends.