DORSET’s oldest resident was the guest of honour at Blandford St Mary’s ‘alternative Royal Garden Party’ in Blandford’s Woodhouse Gardens last weekend

She’s lived through two World Wars, two pandemics, and Annie ‘Nan’ Dennett in Blandford St Mary is due to celebrate her 109th birthday on 27 July.

Following her nomination by North Dorset MP Simon Hoare and former Blandford town mayor Lynn Lindsay, Nan was invited to a Buckingham Palace garden party when she was 106, but it was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Now aged 108, she was invited to attend the rescheduled party at the palace in May this year, but couldn’t attend due to her mobility. As a result, Blandford Town Council organised and hosted an ‘alternative royal garden party’ in her honour in Woodhouse Gardens.

Nan was welcomed to the event by Blandford Town Cryer Jean Jeffries. Blandford Royal British Legion attended in honour of her late husband Ivor, whom she met when he was serving with the Royal Engineers in Lancashire during World War II, and their long-standing association with the local branch and club. A certificate of appreciation was presented to her by branch chairman Terry Clarkson, branch standards were carried, and a fanfare was played by Geordie Thomson.

Others to wish her well were Maria Jacobson of the Royal Voluntary Service, with which Annie served when it was the Women’s Voluntary Service during World War II, representatives of Clayesmore School, where she worked when she first came to Dorset, and Anthony Woodhouse of the Hall & Woodhouse Brewery where Ivor worked for many years.

Born in Lancashire, one of ten children, Annie moved to Dorset after her marriage to Ivor, whose family home was in Charlton Marshall. They lived there after the war for 38 years, and she worked locally: first for Clayesmore School, then at Markwells Grocery Store in Blandford Market Place, Bennett’s general shop in Charlton Marshall, and at Clayesmore again for 13 years in its new location at Iwerne Minster.

Nan retired at 74 to take care of her husband, who died a few years later, and at 80 became a volunteer with Help the Aged at Blandford, where she worked for two afternoons a week for 14 years.

At nearly 109, Nan continues to live independently, with the support of carers, her two daughters Sandra and Jenny and their children and grandchildren, and clearly enjoyed meeting old friends and remembering her long life. After a long chat with Mr Hoare, he reported that she had told him the recipe for long life was “working hard, being born in Lancashire – and moving to Dorset”!

by Nicci Brown