A Teesside great-great-grandmother who survived two world wars has celebrated turning 100 years old.
Norah Haswell was treated to a surprise party by family and friends to celebrate the impressive milestone.
The mum of three spent most of her life on Teesside and for the latter 50 years lived in Brookfield, Middlesbrough.
An only child, Mrs Haswell was born in Middlesbrough three weeks after the start of the First World War.
She attended Marton Road Primary school before earning a scholarship to Kirby Secondary School for girls, in Linthorpe.
After completing her eduaction, Mrs Haswell went to work for the Newhouse family at their store in central Middlesbrough.
She was very active and in her spare time enjoyed taking part in sports, particularly swimming and hockey.
Other hobbies included needle work and she was a competitvie darts and dominoes player.
Norah, who has four great-granddaughters and three granddaughters and two great-great-grandsons met her late husband Sam, at a tea dance and the couple married at St Oswald’s church in Marton Grove Road in 1934.
Speaking about her mother’s achievement, daughter Diane said: “She has lived through two wars and suffered some personal heartache, but she just keeps going.
“She has extremely stubborn fortitude and has always liked a glass of sherry or brandy.”
An avid reader of The Gazette and especially fond of Remember When, Norah has always been interested in current affairs and issues regarding her home town.
In her retirement Norah travelled extensively with Sam in continental Europe but her family ties to Middlesbrough have always run deep.
Both Mrs Haswell’s father and paternal grandfather worked for the council and her husband was a well-known managing director of North Eastern Refrigeration Company.
Mrs Haswell herself cared greatly for the area and was an active member of the Campaign for the Preservation of Rural England and the Middlesbrough Forum.
At her birthday party, on August 27, held at Troutbeck Nursing Home, in Ilkley, Leeds, where she now lives, champagne and bucks fizz was shared among guests, who were treated to a presentation of the story of Norah’s 100 years told through photographs.
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