A FORMER Skipton shop owner who fit out many a schoolchild in the 1960s and 1970s with their school uniform celebrates her 100th birthday today, March 29.
Dolly Pratt ran Pratt's shop at the bottom of Court Lane, where parents bought their children's school attire. Older residents of Skipton may even remember buying groceries from DS Jones, in Newmarket Street. Both shops were owned and run by Dolly and her late husband, William.
Dolly was born into a farming family at Denton, near Ilkley in 1923. She attended Prince Henry’s Grammar School, in Otley, before starting work at the Otley office of Dacre, Son and Hartley, in 1939. 
She was supplied with a company motorbike to collect rents!
During the war she was selected to be trained as a draftswoman and then worked at Rolls Royce, in Barnoldswick.
Later she returned to Dacre, Son and Hartley where she worked as cashier until her marriage to William in 1946.They moved to Stirton where they lived until their move to Gargrave in 2000.
She now lives at Summerfield Residential home in Silsden.
Dolly has always been a keen gardener, at Stirton she was known for the delicious tomatoes she grew and in Gargrave many passers bye stopped to admire her beautiful flower garden.
Dolly and William always enjoyed their holidays, caravanning and also many trips to Europe. Her 90th birthday was spent in Tenerife with the four generations of her family.
Like her mother before her, Dolly has always been an avid reader of the Craven Herald and Yorkshire Post and until recently she was a familiar figure in Gargrave when she took her daily walk to the Co-op to collect her papers.
Dolly attributes her long healthy life to eating eggs - always eggs for breakfast and sometimes for another meal as well.
She looks forward to receiving a birthday greeting from King Charles and Queen consort Camilla, Dolly and William had already received one from Queen Elizabeth II celebrating their diamond wedding.
Dolly is going to spend her birthday having lunch at the Coniston Hotel with her family and friend Jean.
Later in the day she is having afternoon tea with residents at Summerfield care home. She is keen to spread her birthday celebrations and pace herself so there are several other lunches out with nieces, nephews and family friends over the next month.
Dolly has one daughter, Lynda, a granddaughter, Fiona, and two great grandsons Willian, 10 and Oscar, 8 who affectionately call her Super Gran. They love playing dominoes with her.