CHARMING and articulate, Robert Rennison has a fund of memories to recall, which is not surprising as he reached his 101st birthday yesterday.

He laughed and chatted with family and friends as they popped in to Highfield House nursing home, in Haswell, east Durham, to help him celebrate.

A retired valuer and accountant, Mr Rennison, was born on the auspicious date of 05-05-05, 101 years ago, in the village where he has remained for the whole of his life.

He has no difficulty casting his mind back to his early days, and can vividly remember a drowning in Haswell when he was only three-years-old.

It was a very different place.

"There were only three cars in the village, and everyone else travelled in pony and trap,'' he said.

He remembers with pleasure a family holiday in Northumberland, which was taken in a horse-drawn covered wagon.

He was just 13 when he left school to work at South Hetton Colliery, his own village pit having closed in 1896.

Determined to better himself, he enrolled in evening classes, a move which landed him a job with Haswell-based T Murray Ltd, Estate Agents and Agricultural Valuers.

He eventually became a valuer and accountant, working with the company until he was in his 80s.

Married for 76 years to his wife, Mary, who died ten years ago, he has a son, Robert, and a daughter, Marion.

He has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, and all were arriving yesterday to wish him well on the first of three days of celebrations.

"I have been quite content to live in Haswell all my life,'' said Mr Rennison who has always enjoyed country pursuits and puts his longevity down to "moderation in all things"