My favourite things

actress and author sheila hancock reveals her loves

The English actress and author reveals the rituals, experiences, places and possessions she treasures the most…

Sheila hancock, CBE, 86, lives in London. she has three daughters – Melanie, Joanna and abigail, who are all actresses.

NIVEa CrEaM i hardly wear any make-up, and i’ve heard the older you get the less you should wear because otherwise it just gets into all the crinkles. i find it worrying when people try to look younger – it never works.

a BEaUtIFUL worK BasKEt i remember one christmas when my parents didn’t have much money. My dad was in the shed for weeks on end, secretly making me a beautiful work basket.

gIVINg thINgs awaY i’ve given away loads of clothes. What i’m wearing today is a jacket i bought from a charity shop in edinburgh and a blouse i’ve had for 40 odd years – i live in jeans and jumpers.

VEgaN Food I have a weekly delivery from Mindful chef, with the recipes I need and all the ingredients already measured out. It’s fantastic.

NEws I love documentaries but I’m glued to the news. I listen to the 5pm radio news, and watch the 7pm Channel 4 News and BBC News at Ten. MY BooK CLUB i’m a slow reader but i read even more slowly for book club because we comment in great depth so you have to know the book well. i have to read it just before we meet.

ChoCoLatE i loved chocolate – being vegan i don’t have it now. During the War, we would queue for ages to get a bar. it doesn’t taste the same now but there was one with chocolate around some honeycomb, and if you put your tongue in it, it melted and you could make it last a long time.

MY hoUsE IN FraNCE

I’ve owned it for 28 years and it’s in a tiny little village. It’s very primitive, no mod cons, no pool, nothing like that. Just a log fire and a totally different life to the one I live in London. KIttENs i’d love to have a pet cat but it would outlive me now – although my grandchildren have said that they’d look after it when i die. i’ve had lots of cats. My last one, Stanley, was really special, so he would be hard to replace.

wrItINg Any spare time is taken up writing my next book. I’ve written four so far, so this will be my fifth one.

Sheila Hancock was recently awarded Silver Screen Star of the Year at The Oldie of the Year awards and she is starring in This is My Family at Chichester Festival Theatre between 20 April and 15 June. To book tickets visit cft.org.uk w&h