Plucky 104-year-old Worksop gran’s joy at first haircut in three months

Nora Blaydes has been having her done at Scissor Craft on Potter Street every Tuesday at 12pm for over 20 years.

The well-groomed centenarian has a trim every month while her hairstyle is kept in place with a weekly shampoo followed by curlers.

Nora’s daughter Sue Forsdyke, 71, told how her mum was mortified when her hair became so long during lockdown she could ‘plait it’ at the back.

So when the decades-old salon opened up again habitual Nora was one of the first customers through the door to have her ‘short and curly’ style restored.

Sue said: “All the way through lockdown she’s been moaning saying ‘I wish I could get my haircut’.

“She’s not that worried about the virus - I don’t think she realised how serious it all was because she’s been isolated since March.

“But she’s been getting her hair cut at Scissor Craft for 20 years and she loves having a natter there but she can’t always hear what they’re saying.”

Mum-of-one Sue told how her mum, who still lives alone in a bungalow cooking all her own meals and pottering in her garden, put the secret of her longevity down to ‘a drop of whiskey in her morning tea’.

She said: “Whenever I’m making her morning brew she always asks if I’ve put enough whiskey in - it gets her going for the day.

“But she’s a very independent lady - apart from a weekly visit from a cleaner and the window cleaner she does everything else herself.”

Retired hospital admin Sue revealed how she fell ill with Covid-19 during lockdown and was unable to see Nora for nine weeks while recovering - though volunteers made sure the 104-year-old had everything she needed.

Jean Allen, who has been styling former nurse Nora’s hair for 15 years, described the great-grandmother-of-one as ‘lovely, sharp and full of beans’.

She said: “Everybody loves Nora - she is always happy and having a laugh and just gets on with it no matter what.

“She has everything in order and you just wouldn’t think she was the age she is - she was really upset that she couldn't come in during the lockdown and couldn’t wait until we reopened.

“Her hair was long and she was over the moon getting it done again - I feel very lucky to be cutting her hair.”

Nora, who has been a widow for over 40 years since the death of husband Leonard aged 62, was a nurse at Carlton Hospital during the war.

She gave up nursing aged 32 after giving birth to Sue while husband Leonard - who served in Dunkirk during WW2 - worked in transport at Shireoaks Pit.

Though the plucky granny is no longer able to attend church or her beloved coach holidays she still enjoys ‘pottering in the garden looking at birds and watching snooker’.

Sue said: “Everyone has to shut up when the snooker’s comes on.”

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