A Newport woman who was born in Pill and has lived in the city for most of her life has celebrated her 100th birthday.

Audrey Hammond (nee Tiley) was born on May 17, 1924, and she celebrated her special milestone birthday with family and friends.

Audrey's mother died when she was just 11 and her father a year later. She went to live with her older sister Dorothy, Dorothy's husband Sid Huish and, later, their son Tony. She lived with them throughout the war helping to bring up Tony while Sid was overseas with the RAF.

On leaving school, Audrey went to work for the Newport bus office, where she worked until she married and started a family.

Audrey married George Hammond in January 1951 at St Julian's Church in Newport. They continued to live with Dorothy and Sid until they moved to a council house in Pontnewydd.

Once they had saved enough for a deposit, they bought a house close George's family near the river in Newport.

After their second child Lindsey was born in 1959, they moved even closer to the Hammonds. That house cost £1,500 - a huge sum in the early 1960s - and boasted an indoor bathroom and toilet.

George did an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner, a trade he followed until his retirement.

He was three years younger than Audrey and when she introduced him to her brother-in-law, Sid's comment was "if he's 18 he holds his age well".

Audrey worked in the bus office until they started their family - in the 1950s a married woman was expected to devote her life to looking after her husband and family. Women were required to give up paid work as soon as they became pregnant.

Audrey and George had two daughters. The older one, Anne (born in 1952), and her husband Richard Williams live in Australia, as do their two daughters.

The younger, Lindsey (born in 1959), married Newport man Paul Jenkins quite late in life. They had no children and after Paul's untimely death, Lindsey still lives in their home in Chepstow.

Audrey puts her long life down to healthy living, walking, simple nutritious meals made from fresh ingredients.

Dinner was usually meat and three veg (one white, one green, one orange) - no takeaways or over processed food and simple desserts on special occasions.

Although she liked an occasional gin and orange when she was younger and a glass of sweet white wine in later years, she never smoked and often boasted proudly that she had never had a single tooth filled.

Despite several attempts, Audrey never passed her driving test. Until well into her 90s, she walked "up the road" every day to the shops and once a week to the hairdresser to have her regular "shampoo and set".

That and the stairs at home kept her fit until Covid lockdowns kept her home.

Audrey has lived a quiet life devoted to her family. In later years, she and George expanded their horizons with travel around the UK and Europe and two visits to Australia to visit family, but they never considered living anywhere except Newport.

Her daughter Lindsey went to great lengths to organise a celebratory morning tea on Audrey's birthday, attended by a small number of long-standing friends and a few family members.

Anne and her family in Australia sent gifts and cards, but were unable to attend in person. There was, of course, a letter from the King, a cake and a glass of champagne to celebrate.