Queen of baking Mary Berry has no plans to get out of the kitchen

HOME cooking is good for your health!

And it really must be because Mary Berry is not just the Queen of Baking, but the Empress of Eating Good Food — and here she is in her 80s setting out on new TV cooking adventures.

It was thought by some that Mary might put her feet up when The Great British Bake Off switched channels, but the lady herself has other ideas and seems to be busier than ever with more shows on the go.

“I can get bored very easily,” she said.

“I am always looking forward to achieving one thing and then moving on to the next challenge.

“It feels that I am alive when I am busy.”

Mary Berry is not just the Queen of Baking, but an inspiration to women of all ages.

Now 82, she is still a big television star and looks like staying at the top for many years to come — and why not? After all, her mother lived to be 105.

When she was 13 and growing up in Bath, Mary contracted polio.

The legacy is still with her as she has a twisted spine and a left arm and hand which are thinner than her right.

Did she feel sorry for herself?

No, she gained strength from her affliction.

“I was in hospital for three months, away from my family,” she said.

“One of the things I missed about home was the smell of the fruit pies and tarts that my mother would bake on Sunday mornings.

“It would have been easy to get depressed, but somehow it toughened me up and made me realise that I must make the most of life whatever the odds might be.”

She certainly did.

Perhaps it helped that Mary’s great-great-grandfather was a master baker by the name of Robert Houghton, but that was not at the back of her mind when she found herself working for Bath electricity board and teaching customers how to use their new cookers.

“It was an ideal start for me,” reveals Mary. “I wasn’t a very good pupil at school, in fact I really didn’t like anything, except cookery.

“I had an inspirational cookery teacher, Miss Date, and she was the sort that presented it so that you couldn’t help but enjoy the subject.

“When it came to leaving school, I couldn’t think of anything else other than something to do with cooking.

“I had studied catering and institutional management at Bath College of Domestic Science and I felt very comfortable making Victoria sponge so I used to go to people’s homes and show them how to make a Victoria sponge using their new electric cooker.

“It was great fun and I think it gave me a taste for showing people how to do things, especially in the kitchen.

“I went on various other courses myself, including one in France. I struggled with that one.

“Everyone was very nice but I was homesick and on one occasion, I found myself eating horse, which was awful because I loved the pony I had left behind in Bath!”

Jobs came and went as Mary tried to find her real vehicle and perhaps it was when she became food editor of a magazine that things really started to take shape.

“That opened different ideas and opportunities for me,” Mary added.

“I went through the right door and eventually that led to me having books published and getting more creative, as well as getting in front of the public.”

It is fair to say that Mary Berry, who married John in 1966, was a pioneer among a new breed of career women. She learned how to juggle her time and attention between the work and her family, to whom she was devoted.

“I had three children, but I also had to fit in doing work,” she recalled.

“I was a freelance and that helped because it meant that my work was a bit more flexible, but the children had to be taken to school and fetched.

“I found that like a lot of working mums I permanently felt guilty, but I always made sure that I was there at all of their school events and at home to cook the family supper in the evenings.

“I also made sure that I was a mum that they could talk to and never be too busy for them.

“Very few of my friends worked and things were very different back then.

“You didn’t get maternity leave like you do now, but I really loved what I was doing. My family came first, but my work was also important to me.”

It would be nice to say that the rest of Mary Berry’s story is delightful history, but it has not all been sunshine for our favourite cook.

In 1989, her 19-year-old son William died in a motor accident.

“It was dreadful, of course, and difficult to find any positives from something like that in your life, but I think it brought us even closer as a family and our two other children, Thomas and Annabel were a great support to us,” Mary revealed.

And it is the feeling of close family that has been one of her greatest cooking inspirations, hence her book, Family Sunday Lunches, being one of her personal favourites.

“I think it is a maternal thing to a great degree, but I do love to have people round a table to enjoy a good meal,” Mary explained.

“That mostly means family, but I like to cook for friends, too. Of course I enjoy all kinds of cooking and baking but a really nice roast dinner is something that everyone loves and it is always well worth the effort involved.

“I really do enjoy seeing people sitting around a table eating good, honest food.”

Despite her setbacks Mary gritted her teeth and always carried on and here she is today, one of the most popular and successful ladies on and off our TV screens.

She was awarded the CBE in 2012 and is also a Freeman of the City of London, a Freeman of the City of Bath and received an Honorary Degree from Bath Spa University.

“I am always looking for the next challenge and to carry on being active for as long as possible,” added Mary.

“I also think I am very fortunate to be fit and healthy at my age. A lot of my peers aren’t and so I do feel lucky. I think I have to put it down to good genes as my mother lived so long, but also a healthy diet and exercise.

“I like to walk and I am still known to play an occasional game of tennis.”

Mary was delighted with her Mary Berry Everyday series in which she went on a journey around Britain finding out about local recipes and also showing easy-to-make crowd pleasers, her best family classics and how to push the boat out when inviting guests without busting the budget.

“I had a lot of fun filming the series, especially when we went to Scotland and looked at everyday dishes and recipes inspired by my own Scottish heritage of which I am very proud,” Mary said.

“It was a real adventure and very inspiring.”

For now, Mary is thrilled to be involved with upcoming BBC series Britain’s Best Cook.

“It hardly needs saying that I enjoy cooking but I am never more at home than when I have my judging hat on,” she said.

“Britain’s Best Cook is perfect for me. It is about encouraging people to do their best and enjoy cooking.

“I hope it is also going to encourage families to enjoy their own proper home cooking, which I have always championed.

“I wanted to stay loyal to the BBC because it has become my home and I think we still have some great things to do together.

“I plan to be cooking for a long time yet — and judging of course!”

Mary Berry is clearly inspired by cooking, but she has proven to be such an inspiration to others over the years.

Her recipe for success is quite simple.

“I think you just have to get on with things — be your own person and when times are difficult just tell yourself ‘I can do this!’

“I’m proof that it really does work.”