A CENTENARIAN has celebrated her milestone birthday with a faithful companion who is also 100 years old.

Family and friends visited Ethelwyn Waters for a birthday tea to mark her special occasion and included in the celebrations was Nelly, her teddy bear.

Ethelwyn said: "I was given Nelly by my parents when I was born and she has been with me all my life. Nelly has a sister called Edna who was given to my sister when she was born.

"I love Nelly to bits and she is a good companion. I often talk to her about my life. She is a beautiful bear and we look after each other."

Mother of two daughters, Ethelwyn, nee Robinson, was born in Widnes in Cheshire, on February 8, 1912. She was one of three children and had an older sister and a younger brother.

She studied Latin and French at Sheffield University, obtaining a degree and became a French and Latin teacher.

She married Norman Waters an art teacher in 1947 and became a housewife and mother to their two daughters, Janet, born in 1949, and Charlotte in 1951. In 1957 the family moved to Plympton.

Her daughter Charlotte said: "She puts her old age down to being a vegetarian since her 30s. She has been a Methodist all her life and played the organ at Colebrook Methodist Church for 30 years."

Mrs Waters, who has two granddaughters, Rachel, aged 31, and Emily, aged 28, has been a resident of Plymbridge House Care Home for the past seven years – the longest and oldest resident at the home, based in Plympton. Janet travelled from Nottingham and Charlotte from Croydon to celebrate their mother's 100th birthday.

Staff at Plymbridge House provided entertainment in the morning of Mrs Waters' birthday and a church service was held in the afternoon. This was followed by a birthday tea for family and friends.

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