Mathilda’s milestone

When Mathilda Talbot was growing up in Thornhill, the only way to get around was to trudge up and down the muddy village lanes.

But when the time came to mark her big day, her grandson Jonathan Roberts was able to fly from his home in Australia to join the celebrations.

Mrs Talbot, of Grange View, said: “I’ve seen some big changes even though I’ve lived in Thornhill all my life.”

The second youngest of nine children, Mrs Talbot, née Blakeley, went to school in Thornhill before becoming a silk weaver at Walker’s Mill in Ravensthorpe.

“I was born at The Ings,” she said. “We had no gas or electric, just paraffin lamps. There was no transport. I used to have to walk two miles every day. I wouldn’t want those days back!”

In 1938, she married printer Arthur Talbot at Thornhill Parish Church where the couple helped at the Sunday school.

Mrs Talbot also took part in the church’s annual pantomimes, drawing on her childhood experiences of reciting Yorkshire dialect at concerts.

A card from the Queen arrived in time for Mrs Talbot’s birthday last Friday, but she wasn’t worried about gifts.

“I’ve got everything I need,” she said. “If you’ve got a family, you don’t need a lot because you’ve got it all there.”

Last Saturday, she was joined by her children, John and Pamela, and many of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren for a party to remember.