Dame Mary Berry is a picture of concentration as she takes a swing at croquet just four years after former Bake Off star broke her hip

When Dame Mary Berry broke her hip while gardening, doctors told her she could be dead in four years unless she started exercising.

Now, four years on from the injury, these pictures show how the chef is still going strong, thanks to her pursuit of croquet.

Despite joking that she’s ‘pretty useless’ at the sport, Dame Mary, who turns 90 this month, was spotted enjoying a game with friends, near her home in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. 

Wearing a white padded jacket and comfortable trainers, the former Bake Off star was a picture of concentration as she wielded her mallet.

Dame Mary Berry enjoyed a game of croquet with friends near her Oxfordshire home

The former Bake Off star was the picture of concentration as she wielded the mallet

Dame Mary, who turns 90 this month, was advised by doctors to become more active after she broke her hip

Modest Dame Mary took up croquet with her husband Paul Hunnings, who she says is the superior player

She has previously told how she took up the genteel sport with her husband, Paul Hunnings, 92, who is, she admits, ‘better than me’.

Dame Mary described how the couple took lessons with a ‘lovely Finnish lady’ and that it was a ‘great joy’ to find a hobby they could enjoy together.

‘Croquet is perfect for people our age,’ she said. ‘We play for two hours and he says he’s knackered at the end but after a bit of a zizz he perks up again.’

Dame Mary was picking sweet peas in her garden in August 2021 when she tripped.

She had to wait three and a half hours for an ambulance to arrive and had surgery for a broken hip at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.

Dame Mary bends over and grips her mallet concentratedly, playing the sport she says is perfect for people ‘our age’

The chef said she and her husband took croquet lessons together and continue to share a love for the sport

After she broke her hip, doctors told Dame Mary she could be dead in four years if she did not exercise regularly

The celebrity baker also plays tennis every week, on the condition of sunny weather

She said the following year: ‘My GP told me, ‘You’ve two options. You could sit in a chair and do no exercise and quite probably be dead in four years, or you can set to, walk (uphill too!) and do everything you can, and it’ll take 18 months for a full recovery’. 

And gosh, she was right. I’ve exercised and had lots of physio and it’s not quite normal yet, but it will be.’

Dame Mary also recently revealed that she plays tennis every week – as long as it’s sunny.

As her former Great British Bake Off co-presenter Mel Giedroyc once said: ‘She’s not a sweet old lady – she’s tough as old boots.’