A great-grandmother, who was orphaned as a toddler, has celebrated her 100th birthday surrounding by friends and family.

Anne Woods marked the occasion with a party at Enterprise House retirement home in King's Head Hill, Chingford, on Saturday (April 25). 

She was joined by up to 40 people, including relatives who had travelled over from New Zealand.

Mrs Woods was three years old when her father, Joseph, and 18 month-old sister, Jessie, died from the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918.

Her mother, Annie, died shortly afterwards and Mrs Woods was brought up in an orphanage in Hutton, Essex. 

After meeting her late husband, Stephen, at a tea dance in Leytonstone, the pair married, moved to Chingford and had three children. 

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Photo of Anne Woods in her 20s 

The centenarian now has nine grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren.  

The keen gardener, who still enjoys crochet and doing crosswords, said the key to living a long life was "hard work and worry".

"I've worked hard all my life and was an avid swimmer and lifeguard up until my late 60s," she said. 

"It was very hard for me growing up but didn't let people see this side of me.

Son Anthony Woods, of Epping Way in Chingford, believes the reason his mother is still going strong at 100 is "sheer determination."

Adding: "My mother had to be independent from an early age and was determined to get on in life.

"It is remarkable she has lived through what she has. She is a survivor."

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Mrs Woods still enjoys a word puzzle and crochet at the age of 100