Preston woman who narrowly avoided a bomb celebrates 100 birthday

Well-known for her knitting, ex-seamstress Violet from Ashton-on-Ribble has spent the last few years making over 1,268 poppies to raise funds for the Royal British Legion – a charity very close to her heart as, after her late husband Dalton who served in five war zones returned home from World War II very sick, she vowed to help servicemen and women in any way she could. She has been knitting for the past 50 years which she will continue to do “until her fingers stop working”. All of her hard work has not fallen under the radar as she was placed runner up for the Pride of Britain Regional Fundraiser of the Year awards 2022 and was presented with an RBL Certificate of Appreciation on her 99th birthday by Sylvia Laing (RBL Lancashire Coordinator) in Stanley Park Blackpool.

Born March 22, 1923, when there were horses and carts in place of cars, Violet, or ‘Wonder Woman’ as her friends and family affectionately title her, has seen fate intervene throughout her life to help her celebrate today. When her brother married she had travelled up to Blackpool to meet his new wife where she met her future husband which she calls “a fluke meeting that worked”. The pair got married in 1946 and had two girls and went on to enjoy 56 years together before Dalton passed away 20 years ago. Violet was also injured by a bomb explosion in WW2 which blasted open a door affecting the right side of her face and narrowly escaped another when she swapped shifts with her friend who wanted to see her soldier boyfriend. Violet, who received a card from King Charles and Camilla for her milestone birthday, told the Post: “The story goes - one of my friends wanted to see her soldier boyfriend and I covered her shift that evening we swapped shifts and she would do my day one. That night the bomb dropped. I would not be here if I had not changed shift.”

Despite her years, Violet is amazingly fit, gardens every day and does this work in memory of her late husband who fought as a Chindit in Burma during WW2.

She added: “I’m a 100 year old – I can’t believe it. Everybody keeps telling me I don’t look it. I can’t believe I have two pensioner children. I have done so much in my life, I have had an amazing marriage and knitting these poppies is something that just keeps me going and I do it every year. It is wonderful. It keeps my fingers well, they are very nimble, But it keeps me busy and I love to see the end product and the difference it can make. When you get older life creeps up on you, but you have to keep your mind and body together. I have gone through enough in the war and never grumble at everything. My neighbours call me Wonder Woman because I am always out tending to my garden. I am lucky at my age to do what I do."