She was born the same year Henry Ford’s first Model T car rolled off the production line more than a century ago.

Hilda Graham, of Chester, is just weeks away from celebrating her 106th birthday in May.

Born in 1908, the great-grandmother remembers the First World War and when the Charleston was the latest dance craze.

Sitting in one of the sunshine-filled rooms at Wealstone Care Home in Upton, Hilda leafs through a collection of sepia photographs charting her long life.

One snap shows a young Hilda perched on a chair complete with chestnut-coloured 1920s-style bobbed hair.

As she begins to talk about the Charleston her feet begin to move, retracing the famous dance steps.

She said: “I loved the Charleston. And I loved the waltz and the fox-trot. I’ve always liked music.”

Hilda can recall a time when her passion for dancing landed her in hot water.

She said: “When I was young I worked at Chester Railway Station and used to push a tea trolley up and down the platform.

“One day there was a band playing on the platform and I started doing the Charleston.

“But I accidentally knocked over a pot of tea and it hit the station master. The band stopped playing and he shouted at me.

“Another time I remember dancing outside Chester Town Hall in the rain – we didn’t care.”

Born in Salford, Hilda’s parents moved the family to Chester when she was aged five.

She was the only daughter in a family of three sons – her eldest brother George served in the First World War.

Hilda said: “George was older than me. He was born in 1900 and went off to war. I remember him in his uniform. He survived the war.”

Other childhood memories include schooldays at All Saints School resplendent in her smart navy blue slip and crisp white shirt.

She said: “I used to go to Hoylake baths with my mother if we could afford the sixpence to get in. They were happy days.”

In keeping with their generation, Hilda’s parents had set ideas about how young ladies should behave.

She said: “Mother wouldn’t let me wear trousers – she didn’t think it was right.

“And I could have worked in the tobacco factory in John Street but my father wouldn’t let me.

“He said it was common and I’d come home smelling of tobacco.”

As a young woman Hilda married Jim who worked at the steel works at Shotton.

The couple had a son called Derek and the trio lived with Hilda’s parents.

Over the years the family lived at two addresses in Phillip Street, Hoole and Egerton Street.

By 1960 Hilda found herself widowed.

Over the years she has stuck to her trusted beauty regime comprising Max Factor powder, Oil of Ulay and a hint of Charlie perfume.

And despite her years she still enjoys a good party as ever she did.

However, she does have a little difficulty remembering some of Britain’s most historically significant celebrations.

When asked about the Queen’s Coronation in 1953 she replies: “Oh don’t ask me. I was too drunk enjoying myself.”

And the secret of a long and happy life?

“Get out, enjoy yourself and meet people. And don’t be bad tempered.”

Staff at Wealstone Care Home will be throwing a party for Hilda on May 8 and are appealing for anyone with an old photograph of Phillip Street, Hoole to contact them on 01244 377900.

Historical events of 1908

  • January 12- For the first time a long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower.
     
  • February 12 - The first around-the-world car race New York to Paris Race begins.
     
  • March 21 – French aviator Léon Delagrange pilots the first passenger flight with Henri Farman on board.
     
  • August 8- The Hoover Company of Ohio acquires manufacturing rights for the upright portable vacuum cleaner just invented by James M Spangler.
     
  • November 6 – Western bandits Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid are reported to have been killed in Bolivia.

Factfile

  • Ethel Lang of Barnsley, south Yorkshire is currently the UK’s oldest woman at 113.
     
  • Philip Arthur Twibell of Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire is the UK’s oldest man at 108.
     
  • Meanwhile the world’s oldest woman is Misao Okawa of Japan who is 116.
     
  • Last September Ethiopian farmer Dhaqabo Ebba claimed to be the world’s oldest man at 160.