A Bermondsey woman who turned 100 on yesterday (Tuesday September 13) is set to be among the first in the borough to receive a letter of congratulations from the new king, Charles III.
Applications are closed at the moment, but Bridie Collins and her daughters Mary and Janice said they would be writing to ask for a letter soon.
Bridie was born and raised in Ireland, first in County Louth and then County Meath. Life in the newly independent country could be tough at times – she and her siblings didn’t wear shoes growing up – but she said they were happy. Sadly, her mother died when she was young of blood poisoning after being pricked by a thorn.
She moved to the UK after the Second World War for work as a chambermaid, which she didn’t like much and did various jobs afterwards including in a hospital. Life in London was also difficult for the Irish at that time. “We used to see these signs – no blacks, no dogs, no Irish”, she said.
Bridie had seven children, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Sadly, two of her children have died. Her husband Samuel, or Sid as he was widely known, also died about thirty years ago.
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She was first given a council flat in a Victorian terraced house in Camberwell, where her young son Max said he saw the ghost of a young red-haired woman who had recently killed herself there. Bridie said Max came in and asked her to “see the lovely lady”, after seeing a red-haired woman pushing the pram back and forth.
Bridie was later given a new home near Grange Road in Bermondsey, before getting her new place in Emba Street, where she has lived for the past 53 years.
As she got older, she started going to the Blackfriars Settlement club for elderly people. She has now been a regular for about twenty years, and until recently used to walk two miles to every session.
Asked for the secret of her long life, she said at first that it was “good care on both sides of the water. I’ve got two wonderful daughters, and wonderful granddaughters and their fellas.”
She added jokingly: “No drinking, no smoking – and plenty of sex!”
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