A HEREFORDSHIRE woman who drove lorries of spitfire parts during the Second World War is celebrating her 100th birthday this weekend.

Eva Cox, was born in Llandogo, Monmouthshire, on November 28, 1921. She spent much of her young life between Bristol and Trellech, Monmouthshire, where most of her relatives lived.

Mrs Cox's granddaughter Kirsty O'Brien said her grandmother would often recall catching the steam train from Bristol, where the guard would take care of her, until she arrived in Trellech where her grandfather would collect her with his pony and trap.

At the age of 18, Mrs Cox signed up to the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) when the Second World War broke out.

She trained as a lorry driver and became a leading aircraft woman in the WRAF and would travel between Gloucester, Norwich and Manchester carrying aircraft parts for spitfires.

After the war, she moved to Symonds Yat in Herefordshire where she met her husband Arnold Cox who worked locally on the river Wye. 

After working as a waitress at the Wye Rapids Hotel, in 1959 she and her husband bought Hillcrest, which they turned into a successful guesthouse, all while running the local post office at the same time.

When she and her husband left the guesthouse in 1968, she continued to let out her new house to guests.

Mrs O'Brien said her grandmother was an active woman who continued to drive right up to the age of 97.

After Mrs Cox began to suffer with some symptoms of dementia, her family moved her to Ganarew Care home. Mrs O'Brien said her grandmother has made many friends in the 18 months she has been there.

Mrs O'Brien said: "At 100, she has led a very full life and to this day is still so well-known and thought of within the community.

"Her own willingness to help others throughout her life and being a doting mother, grandmother and great-grandmother has clearly contributed in her living such a long life.

"We are so proud of her and congratulate her on her 100th birthday."