It is November 14, 1916, and the world is reeling from the most costly battle in history. The Battle of Somme had just drawn to a close after claiming around a million casualties. But in the Howard Nursing Home, in Maidstone, there was nothing but joy for

So many changes

Brenda was born into a farming family from Biddenden. She had a sister Joan and a brother John.

Both of them have since died, Joan at the age of 70, and John was a mere 60 when he passed away.

Educated at the Goudhurst Ladies College, Brenda’s first job was actually at the school, where she stayed on to take up the post of assistant matron.

Then after a bit of a “bust-up” with her mother, Brenda decided to leave home and answered an advert in the Daily Telegraph to become a nanny to two sets of twins, the four children of Mr and Mrs Moul of Gerrards Cross.

It was a live-in position with the well-off family that also employed a cook and a parlour maid.

From a young age, Brenda loved to ride to hounds and she met her husband-to-be at a hunt. Roland Day was from another big Kent farming family - he was the son of John Day from Tutsham Hall, West Farleigh.

The pair were both members of the Mid Kent Stag Hounds.

Brenda recalls Roland took her to the Ritz cinema in Maidstone’s Pudding Lane for their first date: though the film Brenda said there had been too many changes in the world during her life time to recount.

Some of them had even been good, she said.

She recalled that her childhood family home had been without electric lights, with the family relying on oil-lamps for illumination at night. they saw passes her by.

Any budding romance, however, was delayed by the outbreak of war.

Roland joined up with the City Of London Yeomanry, Royal Artillery, whose nickname was “The Rough Riders.” He was to see action in North Africa and Italy. Brenda joined the WAAF, where she worked as a plotter in the operations room at RAF Fighter Command in Stanmore.

She remembers in 1941 tracking the sole German plane that landed in Scotland - and was later discovered to be carrying Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess on a secret mission to negotiate peace with England.

Despite the war, Brenda enjoyed her time in uniform tremendously, revelling in the close friendships with the other WAAF girls.

Then came the opportunity to meet up again with Roland on leave in London. With neither knowing the capital well, they decided to rendezvous at The Cenotaph in Whitehall, perhaps not the most romantic place, but it seemed to work, because the following year, April 11, 1942, they were married at All Saints’ Church in Biddenden.

The wedding was a grand affair and was given a large write-up in the Kent Messenger which recorded “the union between two great farming families” and noted that as well as the guests, hundreds of villagers stood in the street outside the church to catch sight of the bride.

With Roland back to war, Brenda moved in with her parents-in-law at Tutsham Hall. Eventually, in 1946, the couple were able to set up their own home at Elphicks Farm in Hunton, where they farmed for 50 years: with hops, top fruit and livestock.

The couple had three children: Robert born in 1943; Simon in 1946 and Diana in 1948. Brenda now additionally has five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Both shared a love of tennis, and while Roland became very involved with Hunton Parish Council, where he served as chairman, and became captain of West Farleigh Cricket Club, Brenda continued to ride. She said: “We didn’t have a horse box, so I would ride to the hunt and back: I think the longest distance I did was 22 miles.”

She was also “always very keen” on bowls, playing for Kent in both indoor and outdoor versions.

She was still playing the game well into her 80s, driving herself to the Angel Centre in Tonbridge for a match.

The couple retired to Charlton Lane in West Farleigh 20 years ago, though Roland sadly died in 2011.

Brenda continues to live independently, but acknowledges she can only do so because of daily help from her children and from her neighbour Greta Botten, who is a mere 84.

Brenda said: “Greta’s wonderful. She’s been so good to me.”