Celebration time for Connie
Connie Mossman will celebrate her 105th birthday on February 7th this year. Connie was born in Amble in 1907 and has lived in the area her whole life. “I was born and baptised in Amble, confirmed in Warkworth, married in Broomhill and I lived in Hadston until I came back to Amble again in 1951,” she told The Ambler.
Connie happily reminisced about the town over the years. “I’ve seen an awful lot of change, there are more houses, shops and lots of strangers now. I worked in Mr Smith’s shoe shop which was next to the Dock Hotel, until I got married in 1933. There’s not much entertainment for young people here these days. In my teens, we had the picture house, we could go dancing – and there was the feast week in August.”
“The Marina of course, that’s new. The harbour has changed altogether. It was a working harbour then. Coal was brought onto the ships from Broomhill.”
Having recently moved to live with her daughter Gwen Turnbull in Marks Bridge, Connie said, “There was a road bridge over the railway line here at Mark’s Bridge. It’s all new houses here now.” Connie agreed she had seen many changes in the town. “Big changes, yes. But I’m still happy to live in Amble.”
She is still very active and spends her time reading and doing crosswords and enjoys going to bingo and pottering about in the garden. Connie has a daughter, three grandchildren and five great grandchildren, who live in Amble, Colchester and Australia. A quiet family celebration is planned for her birthday as she says she doesn’t want a party.
“Strangers always ask me ‘What is my secret?’, but I really don’t have one. I like to keep out of the limelight.”
Anna Williams
