At Little Bramingham Farm, our Luton-based residential care home, 87-year-old resident, Vera Farrell – who has lived at the care home since June 2025 – has been honouring this year’s International Day of Older Persons by reminiscing about her love of reading, different genres of books and, most of all, her beloved ‘Hatters’ – Luton Town Football Club.
Vera, who grew up in the village of Kimpton in Hertfordshire, has always been an avid reader. “When I was young, I loved Enid Blyton’s stories,” said Vera. “She was the first author I ever read, and I was immediately hooked on her storytelling.”
Vera has read all of the famous author’s books. “I really couldn’t get my nose out of her books – The Famous Five, Secret Seven, Malory Towers, St. Clare’s, The Naughtiest Girl and The Faraway Tree series – were all so special in their own way, with such great characters and were adventures full of escapism. Mind you, one of Enid Blyton’s characters I wasn’t that keen on was Noddy, those stories were a bit young for me,” continued Vera.
Enid Blyton lived at Green Hedges, a large house in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire from 1938 until shortly before her death 1968. “I read once that she wrote most of her books at Green Hedges, and it was the venue for her famous Story Parties,” added Vera. “Now, those are the sort of parties I would have loved to attend – or at least been a fly on the wall at.”
Vera’s taste in genres has changed over the years and she is now an avid fan of murder mysteries. “I adore a ‘who’s done it?’ book, story, film or TV programme,” said Vera. “My favourite has to be M.C. Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth. Hamish was a Scottish Constable who had unconventional methods of solving crimes in the remote, fictional village of Lochdubh.
“The books were so engrossing and the BBC TV series starring Robert Carlyle, didn’t disappoint either, with the eccentric characters and Hamish solving the crimes, they were lovely cozy mysteries – and I could read the books over and over again and still not lose interest.”
However, Vera does have two genres of books that she cannot stand. “I do not enjoy science fiction or horror stories, I never have – and never will,” Vera added. 
At the care home, Vera has her favourite, cozy place to go to read. “Most days I take a walk from my room to my favourite chair in a lovely snug area at the care home,” continued Vera. “I must admit, on my way there and back, I use the walk as a little bit of daily exercise to try to keep myself as active as possible. If I’m not reading a book, I can always be found doing a Crossword puzzle – I try to do Crosswords every day, as I love words and figuring out the answers to the clues. They are also good as they keep my brain ticking over.”
“Vera is a wonderful lady and a fantastic resident,” said Emma Lawrance, the Registered Manager at Little Bramingham Farm. “She is so knowledgeable and has so many friends at the care home. At dinner, Vera and her friends will often be talking about the books they are currently reading or have read, but they never reveal the plot lines and ruin the endings for each other.”
“Vera is excellent at quizzes as her trivia knowledge is unbelievable,” added Karen Charity, Little Bramingham Farm’s Activities Coordinator. “We were chatting at one of our regular reminiscing sessions recently and the topic turned to Crosswords.
“Vera said she was a ‘proper Cruciverbalist’ – Crossword Lover – and told the group that it a journalist, Arthur Wynne, who created the first ‘Word-Cross’ puzzle for the New York World’s Christmas edition. However, few weeks after its debut, typesetters mistakenly transposed the title, changing it to ‘Cross-Word’ and the name eventually stuck as ‘Crossword’.
“Vera also had everyone laughing when she added that the longest Crossword answer has 58 letters and it’s the name of the famously multisyllabic Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch – and she pronounced it perfectly.”
“Vera never ceases to amaze us at the care home, she’s always so bright, bubbly and full of enthusiasm, she’s a lovely lady and a very much loved member of the Little Bramingham Farm family,” concluded Emma.
Find out more about Little Bramingham Farm care home by calling 01582 582 433 or enquiries@fote.org.uk.