LONG life runs in the family for one pensioner who celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by friends and relatives.

Family and friends from across the country attended Lois Anstee’s 100th birthday party at Crosshill Nursing Home in Stanhope, Weardale, yesterday (Saturday, August 10).

To reach such a great age is a great achievement but Mrs Anstee is not the first in her family to celebrate such a milestone, with her grandmother living to 104 and her mother celebrating her 99th birthday.

Mrs Anstee’s only son John, 69, said: “She was always very active, especially before my father died, as she cared for him for many years and did everything for him. She never smoked or drank and was very strong willed.”

Mrs Anstee was the eldest of three sisters and was born in Dunstable in Bedfordshire.

She was brought up in Markyate in Hertfordshire and, during the Second World War, she helped her father on the family farm and worked at paper mill.

In 1936, she married Henry Alfred Anstee and the couple enjoyed playing tennis together in their spare time.

Mr Anstee died shortly after their 50th wedding anniversary and Mrs Anstee, who is now a great-grandmother, moved up to Stanhope to be closer to her son.