Happy 100th Phyllis

FORMER pub landlady Phyllis Incerti will lift a glass to a very special milestone today – her 100th birthday.

Mrs Incerti will celebrate with around 30 guests at Alderney's Belle Vue Hotel in typical, well-groomed style.

The former model ran a successful Chigwell pub for more than 40 years, providing a refuge even when bombs were falling nearby, for war-weary Londoners.

She puts her longevity down to good genes and a capacity for hard work. 'It's a mental attitude more than anything,' she said. 'It's how you look at life. You keep going until you can't go any more. I've always worked hard. It seems to agree with me.'

Mrs Incerti, nee Fox, ran the Reindeer pub in Epping Forest for 42 years and turned it into a hugely successful business. Plush mahogany booths and a bar made of glass bottles helped it stand out.

'People would fly over on the bus from Middlesex to have a drink, because they heard the Reindeer was always open.'

During the war years, she recalled, she was buying a hat for her mother when she heard an enormous bang – it was a bomb exploding.

'I thought, "Oh my god it's hit the Reindeer",' said Mrs Incerti. 'When we got back we found it had hit the garage on the opposite corner. All the pub windows had blown out. But you got used to it and we never closed.'

Her glamorous landlady persona was also a tonic for customers. In her youth, she modelled for Liberty in London. She swears by Max Factor and Pond's Cold Cream for keeping her skin tip-top.

'You had to be smart behind the bar. You had to look glamorous. My hair was immaculate and I always wore make-up and high-heeled shoes, even though I had to do the heavy work in the cellar – you couldn't get men because they were away fighting.

'You could go into the bar feeling like death, but part of your job was to listen to all your customers' troubles – and you would forget about your own.'

A serviceable glass of Dubonnet was kept under the counter and produced when customers bought her drinks – in fact, she didn't drink a drop on duty.

When she retired to Alderney in 1968, she vowed never to step behind a bar again – but ended up helping to open up the golf club as a social venue.

• Post script - Mrs Incerti passed away 11 days after this article was published.