Tag: 100th birthday

Care home resident celebrates 100th birthday at Milford Care Home

A cherished resident of Milford Care Home in Edinburgh marked a special milestone as she celebrated her 100th birthday with a beautiful afternoon tea, surrounded by her loving family and fellow residents.

Doris Moffat was born and raised in Dagenham, East London. She spent her early years working as a dental technician before dedicating herself to raising her loving son, Alex. She became a proud grandmother of two and has always placed family at the heart of her life.

Reflecting on her century-long journey, Doris shared the secret to her long life, which she attributes to “eating well, walking, and the love of my family.” This simple yet profound philosophy has guided her through the many stages of her life, from her career in East London to her retirement in Scotland.

Doris moved to Scotland with her husband in October 2008, a decision she made to be closer to her immediate family. Tragically, just two months after their move, Doris’ husband passed away. Despite this heartache, she found solace in her family and the beautiful surroundings of Scotland.

The centenarian’s birthday celebration at Milford Care Home was a heartwarming affair as Doris was joined by her family, some of whom had travelled from as far as Cornwall to celebrate with her. Together they enjoyed a special afternoon tea in her honour.

Doris, 100, said: “Turning 100 is such an exciting milestone, but what truly makes it special is having my loving family here with me. I’m overjoyed that they’ve travelled all the way from England to Edinburgh to celebrate this day together. Being surrounded by those I love means the world to me.”

Doris also shared one of her fondest memories—a humorous anecdote involving her late husband. She said: “I’ll never forget the time I saw my husband bump into a lamppost after a good night out. He looked at it and said, ‘Excuse me, sir.’ That always brought a smile to my face!”

Kelly Skellet, manager at Milford Care Home, said: ” Doris is such a wonderful person, and it’s heartwarming to see her surrounded by her loved ones on her 100th birthday.

“The afternoon tea with her family and fellow residents truly reflects the close-knit community we have here, and we’re honoured to share in her joy on this special day.”

Renaissance Care has 17 homes across Scotland in areas including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Lanarkshire.

The private care homes vary in size and style, ranging from small boutique-style residential care homes with 20 rooms to larger purpose-built care homes for assisted living offering specialist nursing and dementia care.

For more information about Renaissance Care facilities, please visit:

 https://www.renaissance-care.co.uk/our-homes

TON UP FOR TONY!

COMMUNITY LEGEND CELEBRATES HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY

TONY Delahoy celebrates his 100th birthday today. The popular Silverknowes man plans to spend the milestone occasion quietly with family, but daughter Barbara has asked me to pass on Tony’s best wishes to his many friends, acquaintances and old comrades across North Edinburgh and beyond.

Durng lockdown Tony used his time at home productively, producing Things Remembered, a memoir of his life. I was very touched but absolutely delighted when he hand -delivered a copy to me, and I fondly remember that brief visit to my doorstep – one of the brightest moments of a very dark time.

Tony explains in the introduction: ‘We all have memories that are important or significant in our lives. At the time of writing this account I have reached the age of 98 and the years since my birth in 1923 have seen great change.

‘Thinking about some of the changes and events that I have witnessed during my life, I felt it might be interesting to share them with others who might also find them interesting or informative.

‘I have recorded some memories from my childhood, school years and early work experiences. Also, the outbreak of the Second World War, when I was just 16, and of course my call up and war service. I end this account with my return to civilian and family life and the immediate post war period.

‘This is not exhaustive or by any means complete, but is a record of some events and occurrences that I felt worthy of setting down.’

I’m honoured to share just a few of Tony’s memories today, and will post more over the coming weeks:

OUR HOUSE AND LOCALITY

i was born at 12 Holmshaw Road, Lower Sydenham, London SE 26 on 13th January 1923. Number 12 was a mid terraced-house; it had three rooms and a scullery downstairs and three bedrooms upstairs.

The rooms were gas lit and there was just one main water tap in the scullery. The front room downstairs was the ‘best’ room and was not used a lot, except at Christmas time when a coal fire was lit.

We lived there, next door to my mother’s family, the Goddards at number 10, until September 1940, when at the age of 17 the houses at numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 were bombed and destroyed …

SCHOOL

Our school, Haseltine Road Elementary, which is still in use, was very close to our house, a couple of hundred yards away and within hearing distance of the warning bell that was rung at 8.45am, the school starting at 9am.

The school bell was in a tower and was rung by the Schoolkeeper on the ground floor by pulling a rope.

Class sizes were very large, up to 50, boys only. The classroom floor was stepped up front-to-back to accomodate the iron-framed desks at which the children sat.

The desks had a folding wooden top, with a groove along the top for pen and pencil and an inkwell set in the top right corner.

WORK

Having had early mornig jobs from the age of 10 – delivering papers and helping the local milk roundsman evey day of the week – work was second nature and mostly enjoyable.

At the end of term in December 1935 thoughts turned to getting a full-time job, having been asked by the school if I would like to carry on my schooling at the Central school.

I asked my Mother, was said it was up to me, but I knew that a school uniform would have to be bought and I knew that it would be impossible to do.

Also, I was so used to work and my earnings would help Mum – incidentally, any money earned on my paper or milk rounds was always handed over to Mum; that was the norm and she would in turn give back some money to you.

I believe it was something like a wage of three shillings and sixpence handed over and one shilling and sixpence (1/6d) handed back.

Although the school did not help to find jobs there was one on offer from a shop in Sydenham for a window dresser, but it did not appeal to me at all having had years of outside jobs. I really wanted to work in the milk delivery trade with the Co-operative Society. I applied to the Co-op and was still waiting on a reply when I left school, so I had to apply for a job at one of the two local factories.

This was a metal working factory, Aerograph, and I was taken on and put in the inspection department checking threads on nuts and bolts.

I was only there for one week, for which I got paid twelve shillings and sevenpence (12/7d). I had by then heard from the Co-op asking me to attend for an interview and test.

The test was English and Arithmetic and a couple of other tests. I passed and eventually got a letter to report to the Catford Milk Depot. I was permanently allocated to a large round. A round was an area covered by one roundsman, serving approximately 500 customers. Transport of the milk was of course by horse and cart. My roundsman Johnny was a good chap and trained me very well.

Tomororow: WAR, HELEN, CALL-UP and MARRIAGE

HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY, TONY!