Active Jack marks his 101st birthday

Age is just a number for sprightly pensioner and West Bromwich Albion's oldest fan Jack Jones whose zest for life still knows no bounds - even at 101 years old.

Jack, of Stourbridge, who has seen four monarchs and 17 prime ministers, has gone to The Greyhound pub, Norton, every Wednesday for the past four years with 88-year-old friend Harold Haywood. He celebrated his latest birthday there.

Although he was 101 on February 12 staff at the Norton Road pub had not been able to pin him down until this week.

Customers and staff provided a cake, put up birthday banners, and awarded him a free pint of bitter once a week for the rest of his life.

Jack said: "I'm so grateful for the way they have organised this for me. It was the biggest surprise of my life.

"I like the atmosphere and I have known barmaid Jean Taylor for 19 years. She's like part of my family and she moved into my old house when I moved out."

He says the secret to long and active life is hard work and keeping busy. He enjoys theatre and restaurant outings with friend Adele Cleeton, 57, a Kingswinford bank worker, whose parents used to live near Jack.

They saw Evita at Wolverhampton's Grand Theatre for his birthday.

Jack, who got his first driving licence in 1925, did not abandon his car until he was 96. He still has an electric scooter.

He lived in Greyhound Lane for 50 years with wife Winn, who died in 1989.

He sees nephew Bob Goode weekly. Jack's sister Edna moved to Oldswinford from Bourneville to look after Jack, died three years ago aged 88.

Jack has lived near Stourbridge town centre for 19 years but remembers when it was an industrial estate.

He was the eldest of four but a sister died at six in the 1917 flu epidemic and a footballing brother died at 18.

Jack worked on Spitfire planes in Castle Bromwich in the war and was in the Royal Observer Corps at the Austin factory, Longbridge.

He started work at 14 and later drove at the Blue Bird toffee factory, Halesowen. He retired at 78, 12 years after a part-time Blackheath driving job for Bob's friend.

By Helen Guy