Church Hill in Somerset and now living just up the road at Heydon Park.

Geographically, her life has come full circle, for as the daughter of a shipwright, she travelled half-way round the world before Fate brought her back to her birthplace in World War II. She has lived here ever since.

"When I came back to Bermuda in 1940, I immediately recognised Two Rock Passage because for years, as a child, I'd had this strange, recurring dream of pushing my way through two big rocks.'' Mrs. Michielson, in a bright aqua top and slacks and looking 20 years younger than someone celebrating their 90th birthday, seemed amused by the idea of a photo session when we visited her.

"I think you've done a lot of fashion photography,'' she told our lensman.

Noting that she only gave up swimming a couple of years ago, she explained, "I broke my leg, so it's been a bit difficult getting the spring back again.

I found the surf was throwing me all over the place. I could still swim if I could go straight into deep water.'' Acknowledging that she has a "young'' outlook on life, Mrs. Michielson said, "I am so thankful for a good memory. I also think that the background of a happy family life when young helps you to face anything that comes afterwards!'' She believes that most of today's problems in Bermuda can be traced back to the breakdown of family life. "My father was very strict, he was a real Victoria father, but he joined in everything we did''.

Mrs. Michielson who worked as a children's officer with the LCCA, says, "In those days, young people respected their elders and people in authority.

Neither parents nor teachers seem to teach self-discipline any more''.

Pointing out that her own children were without their father when he was invalided back to England, she commented: "I always worried about `petticoat government', but I don't think my kids suffered from that too much, because they had that basic sound background of family life. Did you, Tony?'' Her son, retired Lt. Comm. Tony Michielson, who is visiting his mother for her birthday celebrations, reassured her, adding: "I grew up in Bermuda and it was a great place for a teenager then. But none of us would have dreamed of answering back a teacher or a policeman!'' Asked if she thought Bermuda had changed very much since she returned to live here over 50 years ago, she replied, "Not really, not as much as some places''.

Fundamentally, it's the same. You still have to use the roads or the ferries to get from one end of the Island to the other, no big bridges or anything have been built. There used to be very dense vegetation, covered with cedars.

It's a bit overbuilt now, but you still see the same lovely scenes as you go round each corner, the same glimpses of sea and lovely colours.'' Pointing out that she was still very young when her father was transferred from Bermuda to Gibraltar, Mrs. Michielson told Living she does remember passing a church when she lived here as a child, "with a lot of steps'' and her mother telling her it was not their church, but the Church of England: "So I said to her, how can it be the Church of England when we're in Bermuda?'' After living in Gibraltar for 17 years, Mrs. Michielson trained in England as an army school mistress -- "they don't exist any more!'' -- and after her marriage went to live in Belgium, where her husband was a linguist with Thos Cook. Then, when World War II broke out, he was sent to Bermuda to work at the newly established censorship station.

"I was desperate to get my children out of the London area, so I said `Good, I'm coming back home!' That was in 1940.'' Talking about those war-time days, she recalls how grateful she was to be back in Bermuda. "The censorship people worked out of the Princess, Bermudiana and the Inverurie. Most of them were quite eccentric. I remember one lady who used to swim across the harbour to the Inverurie every morning.'' During the war, Mrs. Michielson lived by the Flatts railway station: "When the 11.30 train came through at night, it used to whistle and being just out of war-time England, I used to shoot out of bed in fright, thinking I was back in London again!'' She has happy memories of bicycling all over the Island, "there were no lights in North Shore Village, as it was called then. It was quite scary, and the roads were very rutted before the cars were allowed in''.

Today, Mrs. Michielson's active social life is confirmed by the number of times the telephone rang during our interview, arranging lunches and visits.

She says she spends a lot of her time doing crosswords, playing cards and "reading anything I can lay my hands on. If you want to stay young and healthy, you have to keep your brain and fingers busy''.

BERMUDA MEMORIES -- Mrs. Frances Michielson, who celebrated her 90th birthday this weekend.