Mrs Wood, who settled in Fields Court, Warwick, from Warrington in 1982 died on June 9 aged 100.

Her family and friends this week recalled a remarkably self-sufficient woman who was already in her 70s when she upped sticks to a fondly-remembered annual stop-off on the way south.

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First cousin once removed Prof Bruce Fitt told how unmarried Ms Wood had cared for her mother Nellie, who died three months short of her own 100th birthday, and later her sister Edith - but never liked the idea of being reliant on anyone herself.

She remained in her own home until a final battle with pneumonia following a fall.

Prof Fitt said: "She was an incredible character. Even when she was 100, when her sight and hearing was failing, she was able to recall details of a visit I made to her home in Warrington when I was a teenager - filling in details I had long since forgotten. Her mind remained as sharp as ever, and she used to listen to Radio Four and hold incisive conversations on the day's news right up to the end."

Ms Wood was the daughter of antiques dealer and one-time newspaper editor Joseph, and his wife, Nellie. One of three children, she ran her own successful hairdressing salon in Warrington before businesses owned by women became commonplace.

Perhaps offering some explanation for her cousin's success, and the big relocation, cousin Joan Fitt said: "She liked to paddle her own canoe, you might say; an exceptionally independent person in her thinking and someone I got on with well, as I share that approach. She was blunt, forthright and didn't suffer fools."

She told how despite having few immediate relations, Ms Wood's extended family, which included links to the Greenall Whitley brewing empire and Lord Daresbury, were an important part of her life.

Friend and neighbour Elizabeth Ryder remembered a "remarkable lady who lived life on her own terms", who loved flowers and her garden and had planned to a new patio the week of her fall.

She said: "We were excited about that. She was determined, and we'd drawn up plans. In some ways she lived as an elderly woman might have 100 years ago, doing all her chores and never asking for much. At the same time she was very much up to date and had strong views on current affairs. She missed nothing.

"There used to be a group of ladies from the court who would meet for an old fashioned tea and put on their best bib and tucker. She was the last of that club; a real pal and a remarkable lady."

Ms Woods' funeral will be held at the North Chapel, Mid-Warwickshire Crematorium, Bishops Tachbrook, at 2.30pm on June 27.