I grow herbs near the back door, and you can grow a wonderful selection of herbs and window boxes... My idea is that you should grow what you eat. There's no point in growing something like celeriac - which is very difficult to grow - if you hate it.

I would always stand up for women, but I don't want women's rights and all that sort of thing. I love to have men around, and I suppose if you're a true feminist, you get on and do it yourself. I love it when someone says, 'I'll get your coat' or, 'I'll look after you', or offers you a seat on the bus. I'm thrilled to bits. I'm not a feminist.

I walk, and I play tennis, but mainly I watch what I eat. I eat all the things that I love, including cake. Cake is very important to me. But it's all about the size of the slice!

As I was growing up, all meals, including breakfast, were family occasions, and you all sat down to eat together - and you had to finish everything as well.

If you are buying a larger turkey than usual, make sure it will fit in the oven.

I've been amazed by the success of 'The Great British Bake Off.' I've been 'rediscovered' at the age of 76. When I was asked to be a judge, I said I wanted to be myself. I didn't want to shout like some other television judges. I also said I was a very bad bread maker, so would the programme makers find someone to help on the bread scene?

I don't like tattoos because tattoos are forever.

I'm really boring. I think about cooking all the time. I have a little book, so when I go out or see something, I jot it down and try to include it in a recipe or do a variation of it. I even have a notepad by my bed, which is usually saying we're running out of mango chutney.

I was born in 1935, so I was quite young when the war started. I remember we were in Bath, and it was 1942. We went down into the cellar of our house, and when we came up, I remember seeing all the glass on the floor where all the windows had been shaken out by the bombs.

Without doubt, without hesitation, I choose gardening over the gym. I can't stand going to the gym. It doesn't appeal to me at all. Give me gardening every time.

'The Great British Bake Off' is family entertainment. There aren't many programmes where all ages can sit and watch from beginning to end. Everything else is violent, cruel, and noisy. We're educational without viewers realising it.

My son is a tree surgeon and gets me a lovely tree. I like to put it up early, as I can't wait for Christmas. We dress it with decorations that have been in the family for years.

I am a bit of a mother hen at Christmas! I always prepare in advance. It is the only way; otherwise, it can be really daunting.

My favourite TV show is... 'Downton Abbey.' The characters are wonderful, and the style is created so beautifully on screen. Everything from the table settings to the linen seem perfect to me. While I'm watching it, I'm in a totally different world.

I don't want food all over the place, down the sides of the sofa... When I shared a flat before I got married, we would always eat around the telly, but not now!

I'm not great on the florals. I think you've got to wear what you're happy in and that is fun but isn't mutton dressed up as lamb.

While we're filming 'Bake Off,' I can get really cold, so I'm often holding a hot-water bottle or layered up under an anorak and a warm hat.

So often, when somebody dies in the family, whether a child or a parent, there is no one to lean on. When something like that happens, you go into a shell, but on the other hand, it's a really good thing to talk it over and say how you feel.

I can't bear the thought of retirement, and I haven't prepared myself for it. I don't play bridge, and I don't play golf. I do play tennis, but you can't do that every day of the week.

I love Michel Roux, Jr., and James Martin - the chefs who are experts in their own right, like Rick Stein on fish. But I don't watch them very much because I don't think it's fair for my husband to be in a total food environment all the time! So we watch programmes about gardening more.

The biscuit tin shouldn't be handy - move it about a bit. Try to keep it out of the way.

I have no desire to be a centenarian. I think 90 is a great time. You've had a good innings. You have to deal with the cards that have been dealt, of course, but I don't think very old age, if you haven't got your marbles, can be very nice.

All my grandchildren bake. On a Saturday, Annabel's boys, Louis and Toby, always bake. Louis makes a chocolate cake, Toby makes banana or lemon drizzle. They're 12 and 10, and they can do it totally on their own. My son's twin girls, Abby and Grace, are 14; they make birthday cakes and like to do it on their own with Mum out of the way.

We have three and a half acres, complete with duck pond and wildflower meadow and open annually by appointment as part of the National Gardens Scheme.