Former dancer marks 100th birthday

Boston Spa resident Lorna Vetleson celebrated her 100th birthday with a party at her Hall Mews sheltered home but it could have been different.

Boston Spa resident Lorna Vetleson celebrated her 100th birthday with a party at her Hall Mews sheltered home but it could have been different.

Lorna studied ballet at Dartington Hall and remembers performing at a theatre in London with bombs dropping all around during World War II.

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“Luckily they all missed me and I was able to reach the 100 years and ended up living in Boston Spa close to my daughter (Inger Radcliffe of Bramham). What could be better?”

As for her secret to long life, Lorna said: “Maybe it’s because I’m a vegetarian and I never smoked.

“Also, as a family we live to a ripe old age; I had an aunt who lived to 102.”

Lorna was born in Cardiff and has a daughter, Inger, 76; two granddaughters, Pippa, 49, and Gennie, 45, who went to Boston Spa Comprehensive; four great grandchildren.

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She moved to Boston Spa in 2010 from Heslington, York, to be closer to family support.

Lorna and her family had a small, socially distanced gathering last Saturday outside her home where fellow residents toasted her from a distance.

Granddaughter Gennie said: “It was lovely but a far cry from the big family party we had planned prior to lockdown.

“It was the first time I’d seen my mum and gran since March 8 and so hard not to be able to give her a hug - especially on such a special day. “

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