I've never felt old, says Ethel, aged 100
Born on the eve of the First World War, a pensioner with a passion for dancing has celebrated her 100th birthday – and admits she has 'never felt old'.
Former nurse maid Ethel Winchurch marked the milestone with a party surrounded by family and friends.
She also put her best foot forward in a line dancing session. Mrs Winchurch was born on June 9, 1914, in Ettingshall near Wolverhampton to parents Clara and Sidney Mason.
Her father, a carpenter, died when Ethel was aged 14, while her mother lived a long life into her nineties. She had two brothers Thomas and Raymond. "When I was 14 I went into domestic service," she said. Her first job was as a maid at the home of a manager at Tarmac.
"Then I went to work as a nurse maid to the Adams family in Sedgley," said Mrs Winchurch.
"When I was growing up our neighbours used to ask me to babysit. My mother used to tell me not to take any money for payment, but to accept an orange or an apple."
She married her husband John Winchurch in 1938 and she still lives in the family home they set up in Coseley. Sadly he passed away in 1974. They have two daughters Anne, aged 71, and Jane, aged 65. Ethel also has a granddaughter Jane, aged 48, and a grandson Andrew, aged 36.
The family and staff at Roseville House Day Centre, in Tunnel Street, Coseley, where she has attended for 40 years threw her a party to mark the milestone. She attends weekly modern sequence dancing sessions there.
"I have never felt old. I come every Wednesday and have a dance and meet up with all my friends," she adds.
