‘I never expected to live so long, and I don’t take it for granted, even now,’ says Lea Glaskie who will celebrate her 106th birthday in February.
Born in 1918, a year before the first commercial flight in Europe (from London to Paris, taking two and a half hours) and in an era when central heating, double glazing, fridges and washing machines didn’t exist, and most houses only had outside toilets, she has lived through seismic changes in British society
Genetics, healthy eating or just plain luck are among the factors thought to be behind living to see your 100th birthday.
But despite the uncertainty around how to reach this milestone, there are a record number of centenarians living in England and Wales, data for the Office for National Statistics revealed this week.
In 2021, nearly 14,000 people lived to 100 in England and Wales — up by more than a quarter in just a decade.
Here, longevity experts and
