Diana Beard from Whitchurch, is set to make her Great British Bake Off 2014 debt and claim a place in bake-off history as the oldest contestant to enter the competition.

The 69-year-old is a self-taught cook, who credits the Women’s Institute for enhancing her skills, as well as the tips she picked up from her mother and grandmother.

The daughter of a Shropshire dairy farmer, Diana describes herself as a traditional baker who joined the WI aged 15-years-old and went on to win her WI demonstrator’s badge and judge’s badge.

With her wealth of experience in the kitchen, Diana can whip something together from the odds and ends she finds lying around in the pantry in order to feed any unexpected visitors.

Making her daughter’s wedding cake was her proudest baking moment, but she describes her signature bakes as her chocolate cake, flaky pastry, Eccles cakes and vanilla slices. However, will she be able to deliver under the pressure in the Bake-off tent?