With a twinkle in her eye, Florence Scott entered a room filled with relatives to surprise her on her 102nd birthday.
A lifelong Camden resident, Florence – or Flo to friends – has lived in St Pancras, Camden Town and Kentish Town and has never owned a passport, only leaving her home city on a couple of occasions over the last century.
She worked until the age of 71, cleaning homes and in her youth was a cleaner at Highgate Glue Factory.
Florence enjoyed a more relaxed pace of life as she celebrated her birthday at Maitland Park care home in Belsize Park last Thursday.
Florence told family and friends who had travelled from all over the country: “I could set up a stall on the market with all these flowers. I don’t know what my secret is for living this long, I just carry on.”
Also attending was Holborn and St Pancras MP Frank Dobson, who delivered a House of Commons card and chocolates, and Alun Thomas, chairman of Shaw healthcare, which runs the care home.
The party was arranged in secret by Flo’s daughter Jenny Beal who said: “Last year mum was in the Royal Free Hospital so she missed her birthday, she really was very poorly.
“But she has perked up since being here and is having a go at most things they offer her to do.”
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