A WORCESTER woman who remembers holidaying in Weston-super-Mare before the M5 was built celebrates her 101st birthday today.

Elsie Green, the eldest of nine children, will spend her birthday with family and friends enjoying a tea party and a big cake.

She was born in 1906 in Lowesmoor and went to St Paul's school in Worcester before becoming a book-keeper at Government offices in Whittington, dealing with taxes.

Her mother died while Elsie was still young, leaving her to bring up her younger brothers and sisters.

She became a cooking fanatic, making meals for the whole family, as well as taking up needlework.

She can still recall the occasional horse and cart passing her house as a youngster.

She never married and lived with her aunt and two sisters in Fern Road, St John's, Worcester, before going into Rashwood Nursing Home, Droitwich.

Hazel Sparks, activity co-ordinator at the care home, said: "She tells me her auntie, two sisters and herself would take themselves off to Weston-super-Mare for holidays, which was no mean task when you consider the M5 motorway had yet to be built.

"The only route for her would have been a tedious journey on the A38.

"She is quite a reserved person living out her twilight years being cared for in much the same manner she cared for her brothers and sisters all those years ago."