A TEASPOON of whisky every morning and night is Norah Stead's secret to long life and the 100-year-old is living proof it works!

A birthday party was held at the Boar's Head, Newchurch, to which Nora said: "All of Newchurch attended!"

She was born in Stacksteads and moved to Newchurch when she was 68. Nora, a spinster, was a milliner and worked in hat shops in Rossendale before moving to America for 15 years working as a buyer for hat stores.

She returned to Rossendale just before the outbreak of World War Two and worked in Reader's Hat Shop on Kay Street and then in Butterworth's cotton mill, Waterfoot.

After she retired Nora worked as a dinner lady for five years.

Her friend Maureen Hughes, of Staghills, said: "There were a lot of people at her party because she is very well known in the area. When she was 90 she attributed long life to a drop of whisky in her tea and she still has a teaspoon every morning and night."

The Mayor of Rossendale Coun Alan Neal attended her birthday celebrations.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.