Woman spends 96 years in same house
19 Mar 10
A small two-bedroom terrace in Hampshire has been home to a centenarian for 96 years now.
Muriel Noyce was only four when her family moved into the house in Romsey in 1914, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War.
She was the youngest in a large family that included 10 brothers and sisters. Her father William, who worked in the docks in Southampton, rented the house for ten shillings (50p) a week.
The house is now valued at around £225,000, but back then it was worth only £400.
Ms Noyce recalled that bedtime in the tiny house was a bit of a squeeze because the children slept head-to-toe in a double bed.
There have been other changes too, she said, adding: "When I was younger there was a butcher and a baker and a coal yard in the street, and they have all gone.
"You didn't have to lock your front door in those days and people were polite to you."
Ms Noyce worked as a typist and cinema usher, but never married. She has been living in the house with her three cats since her sister Elvira's death five years ago.
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