Landlady who ran several Northampton pubs celebrates 100th birthday

A landlady who ran several popular Northampton pubs with her husband has just celebrated her 100th birthday.

Nancy Seymour, who was born on February 4, 1920, worked for the Land Army in Moulton and in a munitions factory in Duston during World War Two.

When her husband Don was demobilised, the pair married and went on to spend 40 years running pubs across Northampton, including Spinney Hill and Queen Eleanor.

Nancy, who now has advanced dementia, celebrated her 100th birthday with bubbly and sherry in the care home in Brixworth where she lives.

Most of her family were there to celebrate with her, including her son, five of her grandchildren and four of her great grandchildren.

Unfortunately, both of her daughters - Sally and Sue - passed away previously and two of her great grand children - Maddie and Louis - were away at school.

Nancy’s son and only surviving child, Patrick Seymour, said: “We had nearly all the close family there. We had four generations there.

“Our visits are normally quite short, as her dementia means she doesn’t have a lot of patience.

“But we were there for two hours and she didn’t get annoyed.

“They have an in-house hairdresser so she had her hair done. She still has black hair, without any colour, she’d tell you.”

Patrick is known as ‘Bish’ to everyone, but says his mother is the one person who still calls him by his birth name.

He added: “She liked to run things and liked to be in charge.

“She has high standards of dress and behaviour and she expects that from others too.

“She never smoked and she wasn’t a big drinker.

“I think she’d say her key to a long life is to be active. She wasn’t into sport but she was always on the go and rarely sat down.”

Nancy, who is Northampton ‘born and bred’ worked hard during the war in the Land Army and in a munitions factory.

Patrick said: “Mum lived in Lee Road where she was one of nine siblings. They spread all over the place and she’s the oldest surviving sibling.

“She left school at 14 and worked in a The Brook factory in Clarke Road.

“She had to do multiple jobs. She worked at British Timken in Duston, which was a munitions factory in the war. She was also in the land army in Moulton and helped out in the pubs in the evening as well.

“My dad fought in the war and they married when he was demobilised.

“They were married for 54 years before Dad passed away in 1999 when he they were both 79.”

Nancy and Don then ran pubs for around 40 years, had three children and were the landlords at Spinney Hill, in Spinney Hill, Whitehills in Kingsthorpe and Queen Eleanor, in Wootton before going back to Spinney Hill.

Patrick said: “Mum did all the catering and she was famous for her homemade scotch eggs and sausage rolls. She must have made millions of them.

“They retired in 1984 and had 15 years of retirement.

“Mum then had 10 years living on her own after Dad died and before she moved into homes.”

Nancy’s incredible milestone was marked with a joyous occasion at Boniface House care home where she lives.

Patrick added: “Mum has been at Boniface House in Brixworth for the last eight years. The care from the staff there has been so good.

“Without them she’d never have got near her 100th birthday or bounced back from a broken hip.”