Dorothy, 110, pops out for birthday bubbly

SHE may well be the oldest woman in the East Riding but nothing was going to get in the way of Dorothy Peel's birthday celebrations.

To ensure the party to mark her 110th birthday has plenty of fizz, Dorothy took a trip to her local Tesco to pick out her own champagne.

Friends say it was typical of Dorothy, described as "independent" and "spirited" by her care home staff.

She is hard of hearing but no one at Westbourne Lodge nursing home in Bridlington mistakes deafness for infirmity.

Dorothy's memories stretch back to the beginning of the last century and she is matter-of-fact about recounting them.

"I've lived through two world wars. In the second, the shelter I was in was bombed," she says.

"I was never really scared. I've been more bothered by an itch I have on my back."

Mrs Peel is not one for drama. She was, in fact, bombed out twice in the war when she lived in Hull.

The first bomb fell between her shelter and one next door. Her neighbours were killed.

The second bomb fell when she was living in a Hull apartment block. The man in the flat below came to see her as the Germans flew overhead, offering to provide shelter.

The building was hit and the pair survived. He was Freddie Peel and they eventually married.

She says: "Freddie had been sent to Hull to look after the Customs House, I married him after he retired. He'd been married before and he had two daughters, who I knew well.

"We were happy when we were married, though we didn't have any family.

"He died before he was 100, I was very sorry when he went."

Freddie Peel died in 1975 but his wife's recollection of their time together is undimmed.

After Freddie's death, Dorothy moved into care homes.

The first was in Hornsea. The next in Bridlington, where she has been for the past decade.

The home seems a good choice. Dorothy's room is neat and tidy with a garden view. She walks with a frame but without any staff help and she sees no reason to give up the pleasures in life.

Dorothy enjoys a drink and, despite claiming to have given up smoking when she was 103, admits she bought a pack at Christmas.

In the event, she didn't smoke them, but enjoying a drink is something she has no intention of stopping.

She says: "When my nephew comes, he brings me a bottle of sherry. I have a small glass in the afternoon.

"In the evening, I drink a small glass of ginger ale but it's a bit too gassy, so I have to put a bit of whisky in."

Her eyes smile at the minor deception.

She said: "I don't really drink much at all, I don't drink whisky until 7pm."

No one's counting the glasses anyway and, even if they were, it would take a brave care assistant to deny Dorothy.

The common perception is she is tough and feisty, that is why she has lived so long. It is the one question Dorothy struggles to answer.

"I don't really know why I've lived this long, I wish my husband had lived as long as me.

"I think I've lived too long. It's just that nothing seems to kill me."