FORMER farmer's wife, Annie Brown, celebrates her 100th birthday tomorrow.

She spent the first five years of her life at Airton with her parents, Thomas and Martha Capstick, and vaguely remembers four uncles going off to serve in the First World War. Just three of them returned.

In 1919 the family moved to Halton East where her brother, Fred was born. In 1922 the family moved again, this time to Selside. It was here she saw her first motorised wagon, which belonged to a local farmer.

Two more siblings Mabel and Edgar arrived and, in 1929, the family moved to Studfold and Annie stayed at home and worked on the farm until she was married in 1940. She met her husband, Tommy Brown, a farmer, at a dance at Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

After their marriage, they went to live at Cosh Farm at the head of Littondale, the nearest house being two miles away. Their daughter, Frances, was born and, in 1944, they moved to Foxup House Farm at Foxup and stayed there for 26 years.

In February, 1947, Annie went, with a party of other residents from Littondale, to the pantomime at Bradford. The returning bus brought the party to Skipton but could go no further as the road was completely blocked by snow.

After having slept on the floor of the ballroom at the Devonshire Hotel (now Wetherspoons) Annie and four friends decided to walk home. In many places the snow was over the wall tops - eventually Annie arrived home in the early evening. This was only the beginning of the winter weather and it was seven weeks before the road was open again.

In 1969 Annie and Tommy bought a small farm near Long Preston, where life on the farm was considerably easier. They stayed there until their retirement in 1984 when they moved to Embsay. Tommy died in 2005.

Annie is a regular attender at Embsay Church and enjoys going to Embsay Friendship Club and whist drives at Halton Gill.