One of the oldest women in Wales celebrated her 107th birthday this week.

Ivy Skeate was born just months after the outbreak of World War One in Southwark, south London.

She celebrated her 107th birthday at Hillside Residential Home in Goodwick, where she has been a resident since 2013.

Mrs Skeate enjoyed cake and balloons on November 1, at what were low key but enjoyable celebrations due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions Ivy grew up in south London.

As an infant her policeman father patrolled the streets of south London, giving residents the all-clear following zeppelin raids with shrill blasts of his whistle. Although she was very young, Ivy remembers the war ending.

At the age of 11 Ivy won a scholarship to Grey Coat Grammar School, which she attended until the age of 16.

When she left school she worked as a receptionist for Universal Studios, meeting the well-known film stars of the day.

At the age of 23 she married James Arthur Skeate. They had met as teens when he attended the neighbouring boy's school. The pair also taught at Sunday School together. They were engaged when they were both 21 and married at 23. They had two daughters Margaret and Irene.

The family moved to Carmarthenshire after Mr Skeate, an Oxyacetylene engineer, was offered a job there. The family decided they wanted to stay in west Wales and moved to Newport in 1966 where they ran a small grocery shop, West End Stores, for many years. Mrs Skeate was widowed in 1988.

Mrs Skeate is Hillside’s oldest resident and understood to be one of the oldest people in Wales.

Annett Narbett, registered home manager at Hillside, said: “It was lovely to celebrate Ivy's 107th birthday at Hillside on Monday.

“Ivy is a remarkable lady and it is amazing to think of everything she has experienced in her 107 years."

"I heard her say when she was in her 80s that she would not give in to old age,” added her daughter Irene. “She is a very determined person and she still enjoys life."