‘SEE you next year’, is what Mrs Vera Hill told the Mid-Devon Advertiser after celebrating her 100th birthday.

Five years later, she’s celebrating yet another milestone with nine of her closest friends and family while living at Ogwell Grange Care Home.

‘It went very well. There was a party for me with all my friends and relatives. I chatted to them all, it was very nice,’ said Mrs Hill.

Vera May Hill, known as Maisie to her family and friends, was a farmer’s daughter and grew up in Trusham with six of her siblings. Her family farm was called Stoke Lake, much of which now makes up Finlake Holiday Park.

Mrs Hill said: ‘I went to the village school in Trusham until I was 11, then I would go to Newton Abbot every day, by train. I got the train from Trusham and changed at Heathfield.

‘We’d milk the cows, and I’d deliver the milk to Torquay every day. I ended up with a nice coffee and cream cake when it was all delivered. It was really something in those days, there was a shop called Madge Mellors and I often ended up there. Everybody knew her.’

Mrs Hill then made history by being one of five women to be part of the first cohort of female students to attend Seale Hayne Agricultural College. There, she studied everything from cheese-making to milking.

She added: ‘Although there were only five of us, I enjoyed it very much. I remember coming first in the Devon County Show butter-making.’

Following her time at Seale Hayne, Mrs Hill married Edwin Hill, a farmer. Together they had four children and a 53-year marriage until he died at the age of 80.

In 1963, the family took a leap into the unknown and emigrated to Australia, settling down for three years in Pascoe Vale, Victoria. She said: ‘I loved Australia, but England is my home, so I love it best.’

Although Mrs Hill returned after three years, her relationship with the country endured with two of her children marrying and remaining down under.

Mrs Hill has returned to Australia 12 times and was 95 on her last visit.

Linda Cook, one of her daughters, recalls: ‘When mum came home from her last flight, they just saw a little old lady of 95 years and offered her a drink of something. She said yes, I’d like a gin sling!’

A keen sportswoman, Mrs Hill played tennis until 80, drove until 93 and played Bridge until 100.

When asked about the secret to a long life, Mrs Hill said: ‘I don’t know just live naturally!’

Her daughter added: ‘I think it’s being a farmer’s child. It gave her a happy, healthy start.’