BLANCHE Brooksbank has always had a sparkling sense of humour and there were plenty of laughs as her family gathered to help her celebrate her 100th birthday.

The celebration took place at the Speech House Hotel near Coleford on Friday (March 13).

She has written many humorous poems during her life and loves to recite them.

Mrs Brooksbank, who now lives at Hanover Court in Cinderford, was born in Grassmere, a small mining village near Chesterfield in Derbyshire.

She had 10 brothers and sisters and is the last of them surviving.

When she left school, she went to work as a cook at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

Later she went to work at a hotel in Kidderminster where she met her husband, Bill.

They married in 1939 just before Bill went off to fight in the war.

She saw him only a handful of times before the end of the war.

They had six children and Mrs Brooksbank is now the head of five generations of the family which includes 11 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.

In the 1950s they moved to Goodrich to work for Colonel Montague Brown.

In the early 1970s they moved to Lydbrook where Mrs Brooksbank worked at the Lydwood factory until her retirement.

The couple moved to a bungalow in Cinderford in 2005 where Mr Brooksbank passed away after 71 years of marriage.

Mrs Brooksbank moved to Hanover Court in 2018 where she could receive more help with her care.

She still enjoys going for a ride around the Forest sharing stories, songs and poems.

She also enjoys the entertainment provided at Hanover Court such as bingo.