HARD work is the key to long life.

So says Edna Hill, from Overton, who turned 100 last week.

Miss Hill worked for a number of employers including a London department store, a theatre box office, the Foreign Office in Germany and the then AWRE Aldermaston.

Birthday celebrations were held for the occasion on July 28 with friends and staff at her residence at Beech Tree Care Home, in Sprents Lane.

Miss Hill was born in Manor Park, in London. She was the eldest of three sisters. Her mother Violet Hill was a pianist and her father, Albert Edward, was a music hall manager.

She was educated at St Stephen’s Boarding School, in Clewer, near Windsor, where she learned to play the piano.

After school Miss Hill lived with her parents in Chiswick and worked in the box office at the Chiswick Empire theatre and then moved on to the London Hippodrome.

When the Second World War started theatres were closed and Miss Hill got a job at John Barker’s department store in Kensington selling coats.

Later in the war she joined the Civil Service in the Air Ministry and worked at Heathrow Airport. At the end of the war she was offered a posting to Berlin, with the Foreign Office.

One of the sporting activities Miss Hill enjoyed in Berlin was horse riding and it was after one such outing that she found herself in hospital for a month after a horse threw her.

After Berlin, Miss Hill returned to live with her parents in Reading and worked for AWRE at Aldermaston for many years.

Later she moved to Basingstoke and about 40 years ago she moved to Overton.

Asked of her secret to long life, Miss Hill said: “I’ve just had a very interesting life, tried to keep some interesting hobbies, live healthily and lots of hard work!”