Daughter of the 'asparagus king of Bedfordshire' turns 100 with a telegram from the King

The daughter of the man known as the ‘asparagus king of Bedfordshire’ has celebrated her 100th birthday.

Brenda Thompson, lived in Biggleswade before moving to the Park House Care Home in Sandy.

Her niece Ann Wadeley explained: “Aunty was one of four girls (Barbara, Peggy, and Judy) and two boys (David and John), and she’s survived them all, including my mum, Barbara and uncle David who received an OBE for his inventions including surgical staplers.

“Brenda’s dad, my grandad, was known as the ‘asparagus king of Bedfordshire’ for how successful he was at growing long, tender stems in the local soil.

“Unfortunately, he died when Brenda was only 14 so she started working in the family’s market garden business and still recalls planting out all the veg and harvesting, cutting asparagus from the ground.”

A talented dressmaker, during the war years Brenda worked as a bookbinder and made purses and wallets for the war effort.

Ann said: “Aunty used to tell me of cats and rabbits that she dressed in dolls clothes she’d made, and I wore them first hand when she used to dress me and all my cousins in matching gingham dresses and bows. She also knitted clothes to order creating a jumper for Cousin Martin who wanted a car on one pocket and a boat on the other.

“She still tells tales of dancing the night away in search of a date. She loved singing and still does. You’d always hear her singing the likes of Dean Martin, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Doris Day and jigging about.”

After marrying Frank, a draughtsman, his employer Mr Wetherley of Wetherley Oilgear Ltd (engineers and manufacturers of hydraulic machine tools) gave Frank and Brenda a flat roof house in Dells Lane, Biggleswade.

And with Brenda becoming a shorthand typist with the firm, which later became Cincinnati Milacron and Biggleswade’s biggest employer in the 1970s, the couple remained in Biggleswade moving little more than just a few streets away from that first house.

Ann said:“Aunty was so much fun when we were growing up and I was always around her house. One day we painted the whole patio with emulsion and the rain came and washed it into huge streaks.

“But she wasn’t bothered, she just blamed it on the fairies. Her green fingers never left her and she gardened and grew grapevines around the back of their later house in Sandy.

“Well, the wine was rather ripe and rather pungent, and she’d sing at the top of her voice while Uncle Frank was out playing golf. She’d say, ‘well you have to taste it before you bottle it’.

A woman of many talents, Brenda also enjoyed sailing and would take her small boat ‘Masquerade’ on the back of the trailer to sail the Norfolk Broads.

Ann added:“She loved that boat and would often go full speed up the rivers despite the fact she couldn’t swim. She was always full of energy and had a real zest for life.

“She still does although she’s pretty much bed bound now. But she loves the team at Park House, she talks of them as if they’re part of the family and they do so much for her, she thinks they’re marvellous.”

And what does the centurion think of turning 100?

Speaking at her birthday celebration in the care home on Mill Lane, Brenda said: “The secret to a long, happy life is to keep singing, be happy, and be kind to everyone. God bless everyone.”