Edwina Fran ‘Judy’ Stokes, who celebrated her birthday at Featherton House care home.

She was born on April 8, 1925, in Pembrokeshire and has lived a life of service and resilience.

Hilda Sanyika, registered manager at Featherton House, said: “Judy has lived an incredible life and has given so much to others through her work and volunteering.

“She is always full of warmth and humour, and it is a privilege for everyone here to be part of her story.

“We were delighted to celebrate her 101st birthday with her and her family.”

Ms Stokes began volunteering for the British Red Cross at 16, supporting care efforts at Gosport War Memorial Hospital.

By 19, she was a full-time aid detachment member working alongside Sir Harold Gillies, a pioneer in plastic surgery, caring for wounded servicemen during the Second World War.

After the war, she retrained as a dental nurse and worked in Fareham and travelled to Harley Street in London.

She married William Stokes in 1953, shortly before he was posted to Singapore with the Royal Navy.

Despite her professional commitments, Ms Stokes dedicated 65 years to the British Red Cross, earning the Badge of Honour for her service.

She contributed by teaching first aid, supporting blood donor sessions, and volunteering at the Red Cross Museum in Winchester.

She moved to Featherton House in January 2023 to be closer to family.

But The Four Candles in George Street is no joke. It’s one of the city’s busiest pubs renowned for its cheap pints of beer, and reasonably priced food.

Selected as the Oxford Mail Pub of the Week, The Four Candles could be about to get even busier.

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Owner JD Wetherspoons has applied to the city council to keep its doors open to patrons later into the night.

A premises licence application for the pub proposes allowing the venue to serve alcohol and host live music from 9am until 2am every night.

A spokesperson for JD Wetherspoon said: “Having successfully trialled opening later under its licence on Friday and Saturday nights earlier this year, The Four Candles now wants to offer the same opportunity to its customers to stay later in the pub Sunday to Thursday.

The Four Candles in Oxford (Image: Oxford Mail)

“The majority of Wetherspoon pubs open until Midnight Sunday to Thursday and until 1am Friday and Saturday.”

The Four Candles first opened in 2008 after the building was previously occupied by Yates’ wine lodge and later the Slug and Lettuce.

The unusual name comes from the celebrated comedy sketch that most people remember by the Two Ronnies — the one where Ronnie Barker tries to buy fork handles.

The name was chosen as the late comedian’s school days were spent just along the road at the City of Oxford High School for Boys, and his first tentative steps on the stage were made a couple of hundred yards away at the Oxford Playhouse.

Mr Barker’s family moved to Oxford from Bedford and bought the house at 23 Church Cowley Road in 1935 when Ronnie was five. He lived there until 1949.

The Porridge and Two Ronnies star’s first job after leaving school in the city was clerking at the Westminster Bank in Cowley.

Ronnie Barker filming in Woodstock in the 1970s (Image: Oxford Mail)

In his later years, the comedian was passionate about antiques and opened The Emporium in Chipping Norton in 1989 with his wife Joy. The shop closed in 1999 and Mr Barker died in 2005.

The Wetherspoons chain is renowned for selling the cheapest pints and drinkers in the city centre can also visit the Wetherspoons-owned Swan & Castle in Castle Street.

The Four Candles has a 3.5 out of five rating on customer reviews site Tripadvisor.

One drinker who visited earlier this month wrote: “We visited on Saturday night for food and drinks. Everything was ordered on the app. Really quick service despite the pub being busy. The food was good. Highly recommend.”

Another added: “We really enjoyed our visit. Thursday is curry night special and the food was served quickly and piping hot.

“Delicious curry, samosas, naan bread and fragrant rice. The beer is very cheap and delicious.

“Friendly staff. A busy but convivial atmosphere and no loud music, an extra bonus.”

The picture was taken at the annual fair organised by the Oxford Federation of Animal Welfare Societies in 1974.

We’re not sure how much was raised, but it must have been a reasonable sum if every stall was as crowded.

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The fair had been opened by the Lord Mayor, Olive Gibbs, who had a stern message for those who ill-treated animals.

She said the killing and torturing of them in the name of sport was an affront to civilised society.

She said animals never killed for sport and in that context, man was “much less civilised than the wild animal”.

She added: “Animals are not able to voice criticisms or ask questions – man would be put to shame if they could. This is all the more reason why they are entitled to our loving care and protection.”

She told her large audience that it was important to teach children to love and care for animals, otherwise cruel attitudes could rub off on them.

Ten animal welfare groups were represented at the fair that year, including the RSPCA, the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals and a group representing vegetarians.

As we have recorded, Mrs Gibbs was well known for supporting what she considered good causes.

She chaired the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and often joined marches in Oxford and elsewhere.

She was also a leading opponent of the famous Cutteslowe Walls, which were built across two roads separating private from council homes on the North Oxford estate. They were two metres high, with lethal spikes on top.

She and her husband Edmund were famously pictured in 1959 helping to demolish them, 25 years after they had been erected.