101? It’s just another day says proud Mary

Mary Brown: 101st birthday

Mary Brown celebrates her 101st birthday today but insists “it’s just another day”.

The great-great grandmother, who lives in her Chadderton home of 70 years, added: “It comes and goes as it usually does.

“I have got no secret, just good living and drinking plenty of water.”

The former tailor was born in Edinburgh and moved to Chadderton when her late husband, William, got a job in a local bakery.

Their daughter, Elizabeth, died 22 years ago and the family now includes four grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and one great great-grandchild. Mrs Brown used to visit Edinburgh each year to see her sister Mary who died recently aged 90.

Mrs Brown is a member of St George’s Church, Broadway, where she sang with the choir, and lives at home with help from family and carers.

Grandson Graham Buckley said: “My eldest brother lives with her but she’s her own person. He doesn’t mollycoddle her.

“She is the figurehead of the family. We keep up to date on one another through her.”