A LOVE of sport and a glass of wine in the evening is the secret to living for a century, according to a Largs centenarian.

Elizabeth Mary Wilson celebrated her 100th birthday with a party at Haylie House.

Elizabeth was born in Southend-on-Sea on 3 February 1920.

Her mother Gertrude Elizabeth Hampton trained as a nurse at the Western in Glasgow and her father, Frederick Thomas Mathews, was an engineer on the royal yacht for King George and Queen Mary.

During WW2, Elizabeth worked at the Post Office headquarters in Central London before being evacuated to Harrogate in Yorkshire in 1943.

Elizabeth met her husband-to-be, Squadron Leader Peter Wilson from St Abbs in Berwickshire, on a golf course. Peter had just qualified as an RAF Lancaster Bomber pilot and had recently returned from his training in Canada.

Peter received the Air Force Cross for bravery and accuracy for his work in test flying and developing what became known as the cluster runway bomb for NATO at the Royal Aircraft base near Stranraer.

Her children are Jacqueline Mary Scott who lives near Carlisle, and Peter Martin Wilson who lives in Largs.

Life in the RAF took Elizabeth and Peter to many RAF bases across Scotland, Wales, England, Germany and Cyprus across a 30-year period, before they finally settled near their daughter and family in Carlisle.

Peter died in 1994 and 20 years later, Elizabeth moved to Haylie House in Largs to be near to her son Martin.

She had two granddaughters - one who was tragically killed in a car accident in 1999 - and four great grandchildren.

Daughter Jacqueline said: "I think her secret to long life is her love of tennis, a glass of wine at night and the occasional cigarette. She played tennis and badminton and swam well into her 80s.

"Her strength of character and her feistiness has a lot to do with it.

"A big thank you to Haylie House for arranging a splendid party."