A DAUGHTER was able to celebrate her mother’s 105th birthday with her, after not being able to see her since March.

Winifred Kail, known as Win, celebrated her 105th birthday on December 27 at the Crescent Nursing Home where she lives.

And after receiving a test for Covid, which returned a negative result, her daughter Rosemary Hill, 69, was able to be with her.

Rosemary said: “It’s all been a bit difficult this last year. It was wonderful being able to be with mum, that was the only time I have been with her since March.

“She moved to the nursing home in September 2019, so she was only there five months when we went into lockdown.

“I am lucky because she is on the ground floor and I was able to wave through the window during the first lockdown.

“Since the summer, I have been allowed to chat to her through the open window but this is now becoming more difficult due to the colder weather. I can honestly say I have been every day.”

Born in Essex, Win was the eldest of five children who went on to work in London at the age of 14 as a nursery maid.

She met her future husband Alf in Wiltshire and married in 1946.

Win moved to Bournemouth in 2009, and initially lived in Glady’s Court with Rosemary’s mother-in-law Phyl Hill, who is still there, aged 102.

“That made life very easy because we could see both of them,” Rosemary continued.

Phyl, who celebrated her birthday in October, was a plotter, one of the women frequently seen in films such as The Dam Busters and Reach for the Sky, listening to the calls from radar operators and then moving counters across a board, like a croupier, to show air battles in real time.

Rosemary added: “I think they have had full lives. I don’t know what the secret is.

“In some ways it is luck of the draw. They are both relatively well. Phyl can look after herself, she gets around her little flat, my mum is very limited.

“It is amazing, it is wonderful to have them still here. These last nine months have been challenging so it was lovely to be with mum on her birthday.”