A GOODWICK resident, who is one of the oldest women in Wales, is celebrating turning the grand age of 106.

Ivy Skeate formerly ran West End Stores in Newport with her husband, James. She was widowed in 1988 and continued to live in Newport until she moved to Hillside Residential Home in Goodwick eight years ago.

Her 106th birthday was on Sunday, November 2 and was celebrated with a family visit through the window of the care home.

"We were allowed to go and see her through the window," said her daughter Irene. "We couldn't hear what one another was saying but she was doing sign language.

"She seemed quite happy and looked very well considering how old she is."

Mrs Skeate's family has been visiting her for outdoor appointments during the coronavirus pandemic and is looking forward to seeing her when the lockdown restrictions lift.

Celebrations are planned in Hillside today (Monday) with residents sharing cake and bubbles. Carers at the home have also put together a photo montage of Mrs Skeate's life.

Mrs Skeate was born in Southwark, south London, a few months after the outbreak of the First World War.

While she was an infant her policeman father patrolled the streets of south London giving residents the all-clear following zeppelin raids with shrill blasts of his whistle. Although she was very young, she remembers the war ending.

Mrs Skeate won a scholarship to Grey Coats School, Westminster at the age of 11.

Having left there at 16 she subsequently took a job as a receptionist for Universal Pictures where she met a number of leading film stars of the day, including Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi.

At the age of 23, after a two-year engagement, she married James Arthur Skeate. They had met as teens when he attended the neighbouring boy's school. The pair also taught at Sunday School together. They had two daughters Margaret and Irene.

The family moved to Carmarthenshire after Mr Skeate, an Oxyacetylene engineer, was offered a job there. They decided they wanted to stay in west Wales and moved to Newport, Pembrokeshire, where they ran West End Stores, a small grocery shop, for many years.

Mrs Skeate was widowed in 1988. She continued to live in Newport until she moved to Hillside eight years ago.

Mrs Skeate has three grandchildren; Joanna, Sarah and Debra and seven great-grandchildren.

"She is still in good health," said Irene. "She still enjoys reading and gets around using a walking frame."