A WOMAN believed to be the oldest person in Barnsley celebrated her 106th birthday but insists that she ‘doesn’t feel’ her age.
Clarice Brooke was born on December 12, 1913, during the reign of George V and the rise of the suffragette movement.
Born in Pilley, Clarice has lived through two world wars as well as 12 monarchs, and despite her growing age, she shows no signs of stopping any time soon.
“I genuinely don’t believe she thinks she is 106,” said Clarice’s granddaughter, Laura Chantrey, 38. “She
has always been very active and she refuses to refer to herself as ‘old’. She lived on her own until she was 103, and up until her 80s she would play with her grandchildren in the woods – she’s young at heart.
“She would bake her own bread every Saturday and was still gardening well into her 90s. Everyone in Pilley called her ‘Grandma Brooke’ because her house was always open to anybody – there would always be a garden full of kids playing and I haven’t met anybody who didn’t like her.”
Clarice now lives in Rockley Dene Nursing Home, Worsbrough alongside her daughter Christine Wood who moved into the home two years ago.
“It’s not often that you have a mother and daughter in the same nursing home,” added Laura. “People often look a bit confused when I tell them that I am going to the nursing home to visit my auntie and my grandma at the same time – they can’t believe it.”
Clarice credits her long life with eating a proper breakfast, something she has regularly told her family.
“She has always eaten the same breakfast,” said Laura. “Every day she has cereal, then bread with honey and a cup of coffee. She always said to us when we were younger that if we have a good breakfast we will live to be as old as her.
“Despite her age she is still sharp as a whip, she can tell us something that happened 60 years ago, and she never fails to tell one of us off if we have done something wrong.”
Clarice celebrated her birthday yesterday with family and friends including her two children, five grandchildren, ten great grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter.