ANYONE passing Veronica Farnell's Thornton house always got a friendly greeting, and her bright bunting was a cheery sight in the village.

Now tributes have been paid to Veronica, a Thornton resident for 70 years, who has died after a short illness, aged 88. She was born in 1932 and lived at Heap Lane, Undercliffe, attending St Mary's School. Her mother died in 1943 when Veronica was 11, and her father left the Army to look after his four daughters. In an interview with Bradford photographer Mark Davis when she was 83, Veronica looked back on her wartime childhood. "Dad was a soldier looking after girls. He was never an untidy man and it was the same with us girls. If we'd been lads we'd all have been in the Army," she said.

Veronica moved to Thornton aged 19 and married her late husband, Jack, in 1951. She worked in mills and at Ashfield House care home, and as a steward at Thornton Conservative Club. She had four children, 11 grandchildren, several great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren.

Two of Veronica's granddaughters, Donna Craig and Sharon Collins, paid tribute to her. Said Donna: "She put the George's Cross up for St George's Day and a Yorkshire Rose on August 1. She was Yorkshire through and through. She loved her family and holidays and went to Benidorm every year for a month, where she met her second partner. They were together 15 years before he died.

"She used to drink in the Railway Club on Wakefield Road many years ago. Until a couple of weeks ago she still loved a Guinness on Sundays."

Added Sharon: "She was a rock. When we were small we spent a lot of time with Nanna and Grandad, Jack Farnell. We all had housekeeping jobs; polishing, vacuuming, cleaning windows and sweeping the stairs. She baked with us too, her parkin is legendary.

"She went to Sacred Heart church every Sunday, taking me and my younger sister, wearing straw hats and gloves. She loved to sit in her front yard in summer and shout 'Morning' to everyone that passed. Woe betide if you didn’t answer - she'd say: 'Not a word for the cat'. She made us laugh and gave us life skills. She loved everyone and everyone loved her."

Mark Davis said: "I first met this fabulous Dunkirk-spirited lady in 2016. It was Charlotte Bronte's 200th birthday, I was visiting her birthplace in Thornton. Veronica was struggling through an ankle injury to put up flags. She explained they were for the Queen who shared the same birthday. I was so impressed with her determination and 'just got to get on with it' attitude that I took a picture of her and put it into my calendar."