Sparky Middleton centenarian celebrates

SPARKY great-grandmother Edith James has celebrated her 100th birthday with family and friends.
DM15221244a 100-year-old Edith JamesDM15221244a 100-year-old Edith James
DM15221244a 100-year-old Edith James

When it comes to long life, it is all about keeping your brain active and being proactive - it all adds up as far as Edith is concerned.

“I was a mathematician, basically, so I still do sums in my head all the time,” she said.

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“It keeps me going. It is something to do with your brain and keeps it active. If you haven’t got your mind, you haven’t got anything.”

Edith, of Buckingham Court, Shrubbs Drive, Middleton, was born in Euston on October 8, 2015, and met her late husband, Bert, at a dance when she was 15.

Daughter Sue said: “They won a box of chocolates and Bert said don’t eat all of them because I want to see you again. He was a wonderful dancer and a great sportsman.”

Edith said they enjoyed entering ballroom dancing competitions.

“From then on, we danced our way through life,” she added.

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The couple married in London in 1937 and celebrated their diamond wedding in 1997, but Bert died 18 days later. They had two children, Sue and Michael.

During the war, they worked in an aircraft factory, Bert as an instructor and Edith as a welder.

They moved to Cornwall in the 1990s, where Edith kept a lovely garden. She said she would be out there all hours.

Sue said: “She is extremely creative. She made all our clothes and did all the décor at home.”

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Edith said she had always done office work, working for years at the West London Observer then at the Civil Aviation Authority.

Bert was a maintenance engineer on the Daily Mail for years. Now, Edith, who moved to Middleton 15 years ago, spends all morning reading the Daily Mail from cover to cover.

“I never stop reading all day,” she said. “I read the paper in the morning and books in the afternoon.”

She has four grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

Granddaughter Liz Godbolt said: “As a family, it’s a great celebration. She really is such a strong minded lady. She says her many years on this planet have been because of her positive mental attitude.”

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Edith has written her memoirs and Sue arranged for them to be published a few years ago.

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