No champagne for me, says former Marske Mill Farm girl Molly, as she celebrates turning 100

Molly Spencer celebrates her 100th birthday at Redcar’s Shoreline Nursing Home, and may take some persuading to mark it with a drop of bubbly

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Molly Spencer

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Growing up on a farm provided lots of happy memories for one of Teesside’s grand old ladies, Molly Spencer.

As a child, Molly - who celebrates her 100th birthday today at Redcar’s Shoreline Nursing Home - helped out with all sorts of tasks on farms run by her parents, Agnes and Charles.

Molly, who had two brothers and four sisters, was born at Vince Moor Farm, Croft, near Darlington.

When she was 10, the family moved to Alstob Hill Farm, near Sedgefield, before a switch to Saltburn saw them take over the old Marske Mill Farm, which they farmed between 1937 and 1948.

While there, they had a dairy herd and Molly even started her own milk round. She smiled: “I sold it for threepence a pint and an old lady used to grumble at that. Imagine what she’d think of the price now!”

Molly married husband Bill at Saltburn’s Emmanuel Church in 1941 and the couple eventually settled in Vicarage Drive, Marske, in 1954. They had two sons, John, now 72, and David, 64.

Bill, a steel worker, died in 1999 but Molly continued to live in the family home until earlier this year when, after a short stay in hospital, she moved in at Shoreline.

Among the hobbies she has enjoyed over the years have been embroidery, knitting and crocheting.

But Molly, who has five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, admits she “loved it on the farm” all those years ago.

She said: “I helped out with all sorts. We had pigs, cows - I used to milk the cows by hand. And I used to make hay and corn stacks, which they don’t do now.

“I had a good childhood and I’ve had a good life.”

Molly says she doesn’t have a particular secret for reaching such a grand age, other than to steer clear of smoking and alcohol.

And she may even take some persuading to mark her 100th with a drop of bubbly.

She said: “I don’t like champagne - it’s the foulest stuff. I suppose I could have a mouthful, but no more.”