Lessons on how to live a long life (From Droitwich Advertiser)

Lessons on how to live a long life

3:32pm Thursday 1st May 2008

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A FORMER headteacher marked his 103rd birthday with a special celebration.

Richard Clay marked the occasion with a small pre-lunch drinks party at Rashwood Care Home in Wychbold, near Droitwich, where he lives. The party was held last Wednesday.

“I have been really lucky to have had such a good life and to have lived such a long time."

103-year-old Richard Clay

Richard was born in 1905 in Hallow, near Worcester, and enjoyed a happy childhood. He learned to swim in the River Severn in the summer and to skate on it in winter.

He was a keen chorister and won a scholarship to Worcester's Royal Grammar School, after which he went to London to train as a teacher.

He became a headteacher at a very early age in what would now be classed as a comprehensive school.

At the age of 39 he became a schools' inspector and worked for ten years covering north Lancashire. Richard later moved to Northampton before finally returning to Worcestershire.

Retired At the age of 60 he retired, but remained active, enjoying gardening and pursuing new ventures and interests.

He was a founder member of the village's gardening club.

Richard was married to his wife Trudy for 64 years. When she died, aged 89, he sold their cottage near Droitwich Spa and moved to a residential home.

Richard enjoyed driving until the age of 97 and became a resident of Rashwood in November 2004.

He remains an articulate gentleman with lots of stories from an almost forgotten era.

He puts his long life down to ancestry - all his family have lived to good old ages, particularly the men.

"I have been really lucky to have had such a good life and to have lived such a long time," he said.

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