MOST of us would rather live the life of Riley than put in a day of hard work, but one centenarian would beg to differ.

Great Yarmouth woman Doris Moss celebrated her 100th birthday on Wednesday, and has put down her longevity to a life of hard work.

The great grandmother was one of 11 children – five boys and six girls – born to Elizabeth and Robert Carter, of George Street, Yarmouth.

When she was born in 1910, the first commercial passenger flight, a German Zeppelin, took nine hours to get from Friedrichshafen to Dusseldorf in Germany and George V became King of England upon the death of his father Edward VII.

She attended the Hospital School in Yarmouth until she was 12, when she left to do washing up at an ice cream stall on Yarmouth beach, earning six shillings a week.

She said: “I took the money home and my mother said ‘you can look after that and buy your own clothes’.”

After finishing at the stall, she left to work as a silk weaver at Grouts silk factory in St Nicholas Road, Yarmouth, before becoming a housewife after marrying husband Richard Moss during the late 1920s.

The couple lived in Northgate Street and celebrated their diamond wedding before her husband died. They had a daughter Muriel Cooper, who also lives in Yarmouth.

Mrs Moss had three grandsons – John and Dennis Cooper, and their brother Alan, who died in 1979.

Her main hobbies included going dancing at the former youth and adult centre in St Nicholas Road and embroidery, making designs for table cloths.

She moved to the Abbeville care home from her Northgate Street home in December and celebrated her birthday on Wednesday with four generations of her family, who had travelled from as far afield as Gloucester, Newcastle, Scunthorpe and Worcester.

Mrs Moss, who likes a drop of whisky but was never a heavy drinker, received presents including jewellery, cardigans, perfumes and sherry, as well as special greetings and congratulations from the Queen.