Birthday girl reaches 109

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Hilda Newson blows out the candles to celebrate her 109th birthday

03 January 2008

SHE has spanned three centuries, been a subject of six monarchs and has seen the birth of every major invention and trend in the last 100 years.

And as one of Britain's oldest people celebrated her 109th birthday last Friday at Park House residential home in Great Yarmouth, she put her astonishing longevity down to playing the tambourine, supporting the Salvation Army and drinking fruit juice.

Hilda Newson, who is only two years younger than the country's oldest woman, was born in the same year as War of the Worlds was published, radium was discovered and the country saw the first person killed in a car accident.

Miss Newson, who was born in the resort and worked in the town's once-thriving fishing industry, has now had 10 birthday cards from the Queen.

Miss Newson, who never married, also seems to defy current health advice about cigarettes as she admits to smoking 40 a day until she was 85.

And the secret of long life must be in Miss Newson's family as both her mother and sister lived to see their 100th birthdays.

She said: “I do not take any pills or drugs and still play the tambourine. My favourite meals are roast dinners and chicken and I enjoy a fruit juice with my meals. I used to smoke 40 cigarettes a day but gave it up 24 years ago when I was 85.”

Miss Newson was one of eight children. She repaired and made fishing nets and still supports her beloved Salvation Army.

She can still recall how floodwater reached the light switches at her Queens Road home during the Yarmouth floods of 1953.

Miss Newson enjoys the regular sing-a-long sessions held at the care home and she can often be seen playing her tambourine.

Her best friend at the home is 106-year-old Lois Evans.

Her niece, 72-year-old Pauline Newson, said: “Hilda is an amazing lady who still enjoys singing and playing the tambourine.

“It is difficult to believe she is 109 years old and I am wondering if she is going to outlive me.”

Britain's oldest woman is 111-year-old Florence Baldwin of Leeds.

First world war veteran Henry Allingham is the country's oldest man, also aged 111.