WELLING: Annie celebrates her century with a skirl of the bagpipes (From News Shopper)

WELLING: Annie celebrates her century with a skirl of the bagpipes

2:44pm Wednesday 17th March 2010 in

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IT WAS party time as Annie Surgison celebrated her 100th birthday in style.

Bagpiper and nephew John Haynes piped her into her birthday party at the Westwood Masonic Centre in Bellegrove Road, Welling, where she was joined by family and friends.

Mrs Surgison, from Welling, was born in Peckham and left school 14 getting a job with Hilditch and Key in London’s Jermyn Street, hand sewing shirts, including the buttonholes.

In 1933 she married her husband Harry and they had two daughters.

The family moved to Welling when the children were toddlers and she still lives in the same house.

Her husband was an iron fettler, a preserved occupation during the Second World War and he spent the war years making shells in Deptford and later in Erith.

Sadly Mr Surgison died 22 years ago, just after the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary.

Mrs Surgison, known as “Surge” to neighbours, enjoys an active social life and is a member of two clubs for the elderly which she attends every week.

They both held parties for her and Welling councillor Nigel Betts was at one of them with a birthday card from the mayor and Bexley Council.

She still does her own housework and up until the age of 80, was working as a cleaner/housekeeper.

She has two granddaughters, one of whom flew over from Australia for the celebrations, and one great grandson.