NOT smoking, rarely drinking and staying fit and active have helped a Hayle woman reach her 100th birthday.
Ada Birks, who was born just before the outbreak of the First World War, marked her ten decades with family and friends on Saturday at the Bonaer Care Home, where she lives.
Mrs Birks, originally from Stoke-on-Trent, came to live in Hayle in 2006 to be closer to her son John.
Her husband Bob died in 1967, aged 58, and Mrs Birks lived on her own for nearly 40 years before moving into the care home.
Her son said: "When she was born she weighed less than a bag of sugar. She's never smoked, she only had the occasional drink, she's always eaten four meals a day and walked everywhere."
Mr Birks said that when his father died his mother was 53 and she had to go out and get a job. She found one in a pub kitchen and worked there until she retired aged 70.
He added that his mother had not wanted a fuss to be made about her milestone birthday but the family had persuaded her to have a party.
He added: "My father was her only boyfriend and if you talk about him her face still lights up all those years later.
"He was a wonderful chap; he didn't swear and he never had a cross word about anyone."
Mrs Birks has three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and one great-great- grandchild, with another due.
