‘There aren’t many people who buy a house they were born in’
A 105-year-old woman still lives in the house she was born in – and has no plans to leave.
Elsie Allcock was born in the two-bed terraced house in Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire, in 1918 at the end of World War I, which had only been lived in by one other family.
She was the youngest child and was just 14 when her mum died. This led to her staying at home to look after her elderly dad.
Four decades later, Elsie bought the property with her late husband, Mark, for £250 in 1957, and now lives there with her son Raymond, 76.
Dad-of-four Raymond, who is divorced, moved in 30 years ago when his dad became ill.
They do not have an internet connection or mobile phones, and don’t use emails.
Mum-of-two Elsie, who has six grandchildren and more than 30 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, attributes her long life to “not sitting idle”.
On Sundays many of Elsie’s grandchildren and great grandchildren come to visit.
Elsie did cleaning jobs for neighbours and is very house proud but never had a job.
She was widowed when husband Mark died aged 78.
Elsie said: “The secret to a long life is not sitting idle.”
In her era, the main street had 30 shops and 11 pubs, but it now has just two shops and two pubs.
Elsie said: “We used to have a billiard hall and a miners’ welfare but they pulled it down and built houses on them.
“They knocked everything down and built houses on it.”
She challenged the decision to make OAPs pay for the TV license by writing a letter urging against it.
Elsie and Raymond do around 25 jigsaws a year and enjoy tending to pot plants in the garden, and she is also a champion dominoes player, with many awards in the house.
The family celebrated Elsie’s 105th birthday on June 28 with a party with 50 guests.
Raymond, who worked as a bricklayer before retiring, said his mother is “perfect” except for her hearing.
He said if his mum had a message for the younger generation it would be ‘don’t sit on your backside and go to work’.
Raymond said: “There aren’t many people who buy a house they were born in.
“I moved in with her when my father took ill, I moved in to look after her but she looks after me.
“She’s very independent. She says ‘I don’t know what all the fuss is about’.
“Until last year she was knitting all the time but she’s got arthritis in her hands.
“She never worked, her mother died when she was 14 and she stayed at home to look after her father who was in his 70s and she cleaned houses for pocket money.
“She’s got bad feet and a bad shoulder and ears but apart from that she’s perfect.
“Our family treat her like a queen.”
Both Raymond and Elsie miss the communal gardens at the end of their street which were turned into a car park.
Raymond said: “There’s no factories anywhere and they closed the last one.
“There’s nothing for old people.”
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