ELSIE ‘Vera’ Victoria Coleman née Herbert celebrated her 105th birthday in Kingsbridge this week.

Elsie was born in Chiswick on November 17, 1910 and grew up in London. In her early 20s, she was a lauded contralto singer, appearing on BBC radio a number of times - she especially remembers singing Mendelssohn’s ‘Oh, for the Wings of a Dove’ to the nation.

Vera also remembers being passed by a V2 bomb while walking home in London during the Second World War - fortunately it didn’t explode.

She met her husband, William ‘Bill’ Leslie Andrew Coleman, who came from Plymouth, but was studying electronic engineering in London.

Vera and Bill had three children, two of whom are still alive - Brian Coleman lives in Chillington and Julia Birchall shares her time between Kingsbridge and Negril, Jamaica.

Vera and Bill moved to Frogmore in 1968 following Bill’s retirement from his role as a director of the then General Post Office. Vera has since been an active member of the W.I., Sherford Church volunteers and the West Country Embroiderers - as well as playing bridge well into her 90s.

After Bill’s death in 1987, Vera moved to Chillington where she lived for about ten years, before moving to a flat in Kingsbridge in the late 1990s. She lived independently in this flat until very recently.

Vera has five grandchildren and ten great grandchildren living in the U.K. and Australia.

In her birthday card from the Queen, Her Majesty wrote: ‘What a splendid achievement! I send you my warm congratulations and best wishes for your one hundred and fifth birthday on 17th November, 2015.’

Vera said she owes her complexion and looks to Ponds Cold Cream, and when asked for the secret of her longevity, she said with a cheeky smile: ‘Being pure, living a life without sin.’