Yorkshire pensioner left 'heartbroken' after scrapping one of the UK's oldest gas cookers

Val Marks, 67, inherited the New World 42 appliance from her mother Grace Marks when she died in 1999 and had used it daily ever since. Grace originally bought the cooker for just £38 in 1959, the same year the Barbie doll and the Austin Mini went on sale.

The vintage stove finally gave up the ghost after a number of repairs and it was taken to the tip on Monday (Jan 15) and replaced with a modern appliance.

Val, from Rotherham, joked her mother would probably 'haunt' the tip after her beloved stove went there.

She said: "I did get upset. I thought there might have been trumpets and all sorts out on the street to see it off. I know there'll be ghosts down at the tip where they've taken it, because my mother won't like it being down there.

"It was her pride and joy. But I've got to move on. I'm missing it when I walk in the kitchen. People used to always comment on it, and they were always surprised when I told them I actually still used it."

Since Val inherited the appliance, she's cooked over 20,000 meals with it and taken it to nearly ten different homes. She cooked every single meal on the sturdy cooker, but her tastes are simple.

She made a Sunday dinner on it every week, a big batch of dumpling stew or egg and chips if she felt like treat. The unlikely family heirloom meant so much to Val as it was the only thing she had left of her mother's belongings. Over the years, Val kept it immaculate just as her mother had done.

The former admin worker was left in tears in February 2020 when the council condemned her beloved cooker and deemed it unsafe. She even considered giving the appliance to nearby Clifton Park Museum, but she felt like that 'was giving away a part of her soul'.

Luckily for Val, hero repairman Dave Bannister was able to fix the gas cooker and give it another lease of life for four years.

Divorcee Val, who has no children, said: "The cooker means everything to me, it was my mother's pride and joy. When it broke it broke my heart as well, and the council condemned it and said it couldn't be fixed. I started looking at maybe giving it to a museum or an antique shop but it was like giving away a part of my soul."

But in November last year, it finally packed in, leaving Val devastated. She decided that she 'couldn't go on' having microwave meals and needed to update her oven.

Val said: "It broke in November. The front burner at the left was too high and it needed capping. Dave had been in touch, and someone called Shane from Nottingham. But I couldn't go on just having ping meals.

"I need good food, especially with it being wintertime, so I made the decision. As you get older, you can't cope with the stress of it. But it's so sad. I remember we would go out on a Sunday, and when we got home mother would do a fry-up on it."