ONE of Britain’s oldest people has celebrated her 110th birthday in lockdown.

May Willis said she has “loved every moment” of her long life.

She was born in 1910, nine years after the death of Queen Victoria and has lived through both world wars.

And although she said the current crisis is more restrictive, she said: “Whatever your circumstances, you have to make the best of them and try to remain cheerful.

“You have to try and have a laugh.”

She now lives in a seafront apartment in East Sussex where a mass gathering to celebrate her birthday had to be scaled down due to the coronavirus.

But despite being in lockdown, May marked the occasion with a homemade cake and “distant” visits from her friends and her 84-year-old daughter Vera Smith.

She is now a “supercentenarian”, a select group of only 15 people, making her one of the oldest people in the UK.

May said: “I don’t feel any different from when I was 60. People will sit and speak to you and you will forget that you are as old as you are.

“I’ve loved every moment of my life. I’ve had a happy childhood and then a happy marriage. What more could you want?”

Her earliest memories date from the First World War when she recalls pointing at a German Zeppelin airship flying above and asking her mother what it was.

More than a century later she walks with a Zimmer frame, but her mind remains spritely, allowing her to live independently with a little help from her friends and her daughter.

May attributes her longevity to a “strict” upbringing, meaning she has never drunk or smoked, as well as lots of dog walking and a happy marriage.

She has been retired for more than half a century and enjoys watching the world go by on the seafront promenade and reliving moments from her past.

In 1933 she married her husband Fred after they met at the gas board where she worked administering wages.

May said: “It was nothing exciting, just plain happy days we had. Some people need lots of holidays before they are happy. We were just happy living from day to day.

“He would always walk the dog for me when the weather was bad. When he died in 1989 the doctor looking after him said he was a ‘real English gentleman’ and I said, ‘yes, he was.’ The couple loved gardening and in 1965 won the ‘best garden’ award in a competition run by The Evening News, beating entrants from 30 boroughs.

May said: “It’s nice when you can enjoy something together. Fred did the roses and I did the flowers and shrubs. It was very exciting to win.”

She added: “It’s nice to remember Fred. I often think of him.

“He always wore a trilby hat. There were two horses in a field that we passed when we walked the dog. When they saw Fred’s trilby above the hedgerow they would tear over towards him because he carried a bag of peppermints to feed them.”

The mum-of-one, who enjoys bingo, audio books and social gatherings, considers herself very lucky that her brain is still functioning at her age.

She said: “I keep my brain very busy. I’m always thinking over something in the past. All the walks I did with my dogs. All the lovely things I have seen. You have got to entertain yourself really, otherwise you become a misery.”

May, who has three grandchildren in their sixties, has lived through a lot, but says the coronavirus crisis stands out among the worst events.

She said: “The restrictions from the current crisis are much worse than the two world wars. You were free during the wars.”

But she remains positive by following her cheerful philosophy of life which has seen her through the decades.

May believes that “if you make up your mind to do something, you can do anything you think”.

She said: “For example, trying to put my watch on is not easy. But you keep trying and when you finally manage, you say to yourself ‘I’ve done it. Thank goodness for that.”

  • The coronavirus Sussex Crisis Fund has been set up to help those affected by the pandemic. The Argus’s charity and American Express have each donated £50,000 to kick-start the appeal. Grants will usually be for up to £5,000. More information is available at www.sussexgiving. org.uk/apply. To donate visit www.totalgiving.co.uk/appeal/sussexcrisisfund