Full steam ahead for Albert celebrating 100th birthday
A great-grandfather who was a railway worker for almost half a century has celebrated his 100th birthday.
Albert Atkins, who was born and raised in Walsall, celebrated the milestone on Saturday with his daughters Jean Heaton, aged 73, of Ettingshall Park, Wolverhampton, and Valerie Block, 71, who came back from her home in South Carolina, America, to see him on his big day.
Friends and family were treated to a buffet and Champagne to celebrate the occasion at Bescot Lodge care home, in Bescot Road, Walsall, where he has been living for the past five years.
The widower, who previously lived in West Bromwich Road, had joined the London, Midland and Scottish Railway company in 1931 and initially was responsible for keeping a record of the times when trains entered and left the station at Walsall.
He became a signal box controller in Bloxwich and during the Second World War he worked in Lichfield as a station master and prepared the troop trains in readiness for D-Day.
Mr Atkins, who is a keen West Bromwich Albion supporter, became a guard on freight trains and passenger trains and held various other roles before retiring in 1980 after 49 years of service.
The grandfather-of-four and great grandfather-of-five married his late wife, Hilda, at Pinfold Street Methodist Church in Darlaston in 1940.
She died in 1998, aged 88.
His son-in-law Peter Heaton, who is married to Jean, said: "He's had a good life and it's been well lived.
"He's been very hardworking and has now reached this momentous age which is fantastic.
"There were about 20 to 24 people at the celebration. We had a nice buffet and champagne and he did get a little bit emotional.
"He's well thought of by us all and was very pleased to see his daughter who came from South Carolina for the occasion."
