Henrietta Lay has just celebrated her 105th birthday.

Henrietta, of Kings Worthy, says the secret of her longevity is a mixture of dancing, being a non-smoker, and regular doses of cod-liver oil as a youngster.

"I'd be quite a good advert for the cod liver oil people," she jokes.

Henrietta was born in Lower Brook Street in central Winchester on August 30th 1897, and has lived in the city for most of her life.

As a teenager, Henrietta often went to Southampton with her family to see the great Atlantic liners.

In April, 1912 she saw the ill-fated Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage (which resulted in the deaths of over 1,500 people after the vessel was holed by an iceberg).

Henrietta said: "To me the Titanic was just another boat. When we got home my mother said it was a big black coffin, which is what it turned out to be."

As a young lady, Henrietta worked as a dressmaker, earning just one shilling for a 60-hour working week.

In 1933 she married Harold Lay at St Maurice's Church in Winchester. Henrietta continued her work as a dressmaker, designing several wedding garments. She also designed several dresses for her own wardrobe until poor eyesight forced her to hang up her scissors in the late 1970s.

"I don't think much of the clothes I put on these days - I often get cotton all over my hands; that wouldn't happen with one of my dresses," she says.

Henrietta was a housewife in Winchester during the Second World War, living with her three children, Tony, Brian, and Myrna (who has recently died).

Her husband, Harold, drove supply lorries, and became friends with Field-Marshal Viscount Montgomery's son, David, who studied at Winchester College.

The two became friends after Harold let David store a motorbike in his garage, which "Monty" was not supposed to know about.

The Lays also ran a store on Winchester's Stockbridge Road for around ten years in the 1950s and 1960s, called Lay's Grocer Shop.

The store's name had remained unchanged as Harold and Henrietta took over the store from a completely unrelated Mr Lay.

Says Henrietta: "I remember the newspapers at the time, they said the owners had changed but not the name."

The couple enjoyed dancing, playing cards, visiting horse, greyhound, and motorcycle race meetings and having a flutter in the casinos.

Henrietta made her last trip to a casino aged 101, and boasted she had quite a few wins.

Harold died on August 29th 1985, the day before Henrietta's 88th birthday. The couple had been married for 52 years.

Henrietta currently lives at the Cornerways rest home where a small party was held to mark her birthday.