IT was 100 years ago today that in a flat, above a pub, Sybil Moss was born.

All through the last century, she has stayed in her home town of Witney, and has seen it change beyond recognition.

Mrs Moss, who bought her Oxford Hill home for £450 more than 60 years ago, said she remembers the neighbourhood being a lot quieter before the introduction of motor vehicles and mass development.

Mrs Moss said: “There’s a lot more buildings and people in Witney now. It’s very modern with lots of traffic. I live on a busy road, which used to just have horses and carts.”

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Mrs Moss, nee Wright, was born in a flat above the Prince of Wales pub in Witney’s High Street, which her grandparents owned, on September 20, 1914.

She was a twin with Ruby Haley, who lived in Taphouse Avenue, Witney. Ruby died in November last year, aged 99.

Their younger sister Sheila Smith, from Bampton, died in February, aged 94.

Her parents were Bobby Wright, who worked at hydraulics firm Smiths Industries, and Agnes Wright, a housewife.

Mrs Moss, born six weeks after the First World War began, worked at the De Havilland aircraft factory in Burford Road during the Second World War.

After the war, she met her husband Bernard, a tank driver who had been a prisoner of war in France, while they both worked at Looker’s glove factory in the High Street.

They married in the 1940s and moved into her current home.

Mrs Moss worked at the factory stitching gloves until she retired, aged 60.

Her husband died from cancer in 1981.

She did not have any children but formed a close relationship with her sister Ruby’s grandchildren, Jo, Michelle and Andrew.

She said: “I stayed in Witney because I didn’t want to go somewhere like London, which is too big. It’s smaller so I can go out and see a few people I know.

“My family are very important and I love them all. We’re all so close and they come to see me.”

Mrs Moss, who rode a bicycle until she was 88, said healthy living was the key to reaching a century. She added: “I’ve worked hard and there’s been no sitting about doing nothing.”

Her family will hold a birthday party at The Three Pigeons pub in Woodgreen, Witney, from 2pm to 4pm today.

Great-niece Jo Walker, from Witney, said: “She’s really kind and loving, thinking about everyone else apart from herself.”

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