A true Cockney has celebrated her 100th birthday with loved ones and a century’s worth of memories.
Born within earshot of the Bow Bells in Stepney, London, Lilian Rudd has spent her entire life in the East End.
She now lives at Chestnut Court Care Home in Dagenham, where she marked her milestone birthday surrounded by friends and family.
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Ms Rudd said: "If you get slapped in the eye, pick yourself up, wipe yourself down and get on with it."
Her life has taken her from mattress making and dressmaking to secretarial work at her former husband’s engineering firm in the Stepney area.
She has fond memories of her family during the Second World War, including her two brothers who served, and her father, a First World War veteran.
During the war, she recalled being taken to the cinema by her younger brother while he was on leave. When an air raid siren sounded, he insisted they head to a nearby shelter, though she admitted she would have preferred to stay and finish the film.
Ms Rudd had two children, though her eldest, Alan, died in his late thirties. Her surviving son, Frank, visits regularly with a "bag of goodies."
She is especially proud of her eldest granddaughter, Lisa, a police officer.
Ms Rudd said: "She’s very serious. You never know what she’s going to get up to."
She also has two great-grandsons.
Her happiest memories are of time spent with family. Asked if she ever had a bucket list, she recalled her husband bringing home buckets of fish from deep sea fishing trips, which she would then cook.
Now settled at Chestnut Court, Ms Rudd enjoys playing bingo and looks forward to her Friday fish and chips.
The care home provides residential and nursing care for residents, including those with mild, moderate and advanced dementia, as well as palliative, convalescent, and respite care.
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