I just turned 107 years old. My secret to longevity is simple (5 photos)

She has seen five British monarchs, lived through two world wars and two pandemics. But what is the secret to 107-year-old Edna Walmsley's long and happy life?





Edna Walmsley was born on October 9, 1916, as the First World War raged, and is believed to be the oldest woman in Lancashire.

The widow now lives at Pendle Brook nursing home in Oswaldtwistle and is known for her love of tea.



Celebrating her 107th birthday, which she described as a "fun time", Edna shared the secret to living a long life.

“I live a very long time, don’t I? The secret of a long life is that I always ate well and had a great appetite. My mother fed me well. I was never hungry. And also my poetry. I always loved poetry.” , - explained the British woman.





Edna has survived the reigns of King George V (1910-1936), King Edward VIII (1936), King George VI (1936-1962), Queen Elizabeth II (1952-2022) and now King Charles III.

Walmsley was born in the second year of the First World War and was 23 years old when the Second World War began.

She is also one of the few people to have survived two pandemics: the Spanish flu wave of 1918-19. and more recently - COVID-19.



All her life she worked as a cook in a school canteen.

Edna and her late husband Clifford raised three children, Andrew, Adrienne and Alison.

She has three grandchildren (Christopher, Stephen and Nicholas) and four great-grandchildren (Fred, Alice, Jack and Finn).



The pensioner loves to read and solve crossword puzzles. She can still recite the poems she learned at school.

Until the age of 90, Edna practiced yoga and was an avid traveler, visiting Vienna and Dusseldorf and even traveling alone to India.

"She has amazing long-term memory and can recite poems she learned at school word for word. She has keen eyesight and a great sense of humor and is a pleasure to talk to," said nursing home worker Claire Rothwell.

The record holder for the oldest British person is Charlotte Hughes, who died in 1993 at the age of 115 years and 288 days.

Ethel Caterham from Surrey is currently the oldest person in the UK, having celebrated her 114th birthday in August this year.