ONE of Stourbridge’s oldest residents has just celebrated her 103rd birthday, but is determined not to let age stand in her way of enjoying life.

Mary Wassell marked her milestone on April 26 with a gathering of friends and family at usual meeting place The Lyttelton Arms.

The active 103-year-old is now homed in Pedmore care centre The Cedars, but until last year she was still living the life of an independent woman in Hagley.

Her son Martin said: “She’s a great believer in people having independence, and I think it’s her sheer determination to be independent as to how she's still going strong at 103.

“She was still going abroad on her own when she was 98. I would drop her off at Birmingham Airport and she would then be on her own to do what she wanted and she loved it.”

Mary said: “I stopped going on holiday in England when Martin was 11. We went to Belgium and that was that. Since then I never went on holiday in England again. I love going abroad.”

But it was during a solo trip to Malta when Mary found herself in hospital for the first time in her life.

Martin said: “She had a fall and was in hospital for two weeks. We didn’t know anything about it until she got back and had a big plaster on her head!

“I think it was then when we persuaded her that at 98 she was a little too old to be going away by herself.

“But she’s always had that in built drive to do what she’s always done. She would never let age be an issue. In her head she’s still 16!”

After a number of recent falls, Mary – who married her late husband Reg in 1935 – was brought to The Cedars in May 2015.

Any reservations the great-grandmother might have had about the home taking away her independence quickly vanished.

She said: “This is a wonderful place. It is a marvellous home and to think we’ve got it in our area, it really is something Stourbridge should be proud of.

“The staff are so good, kind and well trained. We are very fortunate to have a place like this for people who cannot look after themselves.

“You aren’t restricted in what you do and the home helps you live your life as it was before.”

Victoria Tromans, the home’s care manager, said: “My aim is just to make this their home. I want the residents to want to be here, not to think that they have to be here.

“It is hard when people first come to nursing homes as you only read the bad stories in the news and not the good ones. We got a great CQC inspection but families don’t know about that.

“Mary settled in straight away. She is so active and gets on so well with everyone. She’s a wonderful person to have around the home.”

The former foundry worker, who was born in Lye, believes her active life has been the reason why she is still ‘going strong’ at 103.

Mary added: “I haven’t had a very active working life, I worked for a small place in Birmingham that made nuts and bolts, and then I got into the glassworks at Webb Corbett, but I did many things during my spare time.

“I joined every club or organisation I could find – the townswomen guilds, tennis clubs, cycling clubs. I think that is what kept me going and my brain active."