Lymm resident celebrates her 100th birthday in style

Irene Lloyd - 'Rene' to those who know her - recently turned 100-years-old, and celebrated the achievement with a party.

Irene was born on September 25, 1922, and one of her favourite activities as a child was to sit in the window and count the cars she spotted.

She said: "You were lucky to see five or six in one day."

Irene celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday, September 25 (Image: Ian Lloyd)

Irene left school at 14 and worked on a farm in Oughtrington, where she discovered her favourite farmyard animals were the pigs.

According to Irene, pigs 'have a really bad press as being mucky - they're in fact very clean animals.'

It was with this in mind that Irene's son - and carer - Ian organised for two pigs to be brought along to visit Irene on her birthday.

The pigs were a New Zealand breed and were given the Maori names for 'fat' and 'round' - no prizes for guessing why.

Irene's favourite animals on the farm were the pigs (Image: Ian Lloyd)

Ian said: "Her mantra is 'You've got to have a laugh' - so many of her carers who visit her at home or look after her adore her sense of fun.

"One care home matron told me 'When we can't find the staff the first place we go to is Rene's room where they are sat on the bed in a row, having a laugh with her.'

"As she says 'You can't be miserable.'"

Ian commissioned a local artist to paint one of his mum's favourite memories on the farm (Image: Ian Lloyd)

One of Irene's fond memories of the farm where she worked was being so engrossed in a book that she accidentally allowed the cows to wander off.

Ian commissioned Lymm artist Sue King to paint the scene, as a present for his mum's 100th birthday.

From all of us at the Warrington Guardian, happy birthday Irene!