100-year-old woman shares secret to long life: ‘40 cigarettes a day and marmalade’

A woman turning 100 says the secret to her long life is “marmalade and 40 cigarettes a day.”

Margaret Ham, 99, will be celebrating the milestone birthday on Saturday, June 27.

Despite still smoking around 20 to 40 cigarettes a day, Margaret “hobbles and potters” around her home independently.

Her granddaughter Rachael Matthews, 47, said her grandma had never stopped her habit despite all the health warnings – and also still drinks “Yorkshire Tea by the gallon” every day.

She added: “She smokes 20-40 cigarettes a day and has always been a smoker.”

“She’s never stopped and won’t be stopping anytime soon.”

“Nana likes the strong stuff – Yorkshire Tea with the gold top milk.”

“Not your semi-skimmed, we’re talking full-on Jersey full cream.”

“I mean what on Earth! A lot of the generation from back then are just made of different stuff.”

“She also has butter and marmalade – and the butter has to be about an inch thick.”

“She has always been a smoker but has never really drunk much alcohol.”

“It’s pretty ironic because my mom sadly passed away when she was just 52 after trying a health kick – and nan was like, ‘well, I’m just going to keep going!'”

To celebrate her birthday, Rachael wants as many people as possible to send her grandmother a happy birthday card.

The dress shop owner, who runs RachyChic Dress Boutique in Daneshill, Basingstoke, said: “She lives independently and we don’t have a lot of family left, so I want her to be up to her eyeballs in cards!”

“Though that is not going to be difficult, as she’s tiny.”

“She’s pretty handy with a walking stick, and I am half expecting her to give me a bit of wallop with it when she finds out what I’ve done!”

“But it is remarkable she’s made it to 100 in my opinion – so let’s celebrate it.”

Rachael goes over to check on her grandma daily, and the pair spend every Sunday together sharing dinner at her home.

Margaret also adores spending time with her great-granddaughter, Megan, 23.

Margaret was born at her grandmother’s home in Bristol in 1926, where she grew up through the war.

Rachael said: “Apparently, all of the neighbors were very jealous of the bomb shelter she had, as it was one of the deepest and the biggest on their row of houses.”  

“She remembers seeing a bomber plane coming over really, really low one day and crashing not far from where she lived and described it as very frightening.”

Margaret later went on to join the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), established in 1939, when she was around 18.

She served for two years and then moved to Kilburn, where she met her future husband and had two children, Rachael’s Auntie Linda, and her mum, Sheila.

The family then went on to live in Basingstoke.

Rachael is asking that people send cards to her address, where she will pass them on to her nan in order to keep the surprise.

She is asking well‑wishers to address them to “Margaret” or “NanNan” and post them to 35 Borodin Close, Basingstoke, RG22 4EN.