A century of happy memories for Gwyneth

‘Hedge of happiness’ is Gwyneth’s best present.

With Glasgow buzzing from the Commonwealth Games last week, the city also marked another very important occasion. More than 300 wellwishers stopped in at the west end home of Gwyneth White to wish the centenarian a happy 100 years.

It was a party which will also go down in history. Gwyneth has lived through two World Wars, 20 World Cups, 10 royal weddings and the birth of the internet.

She’s even outlived more than 20 family pet cats and survived long enough to witness her children collect their pensions.

And to mark her special milestone, daughter Glenda, 69, decided to chart her mum’s life in a remarkable al fresco exhibition.

The retired teacher wowed her beloved mum by creating a wall of memories and pinning them up on the hedge outside the family’s Hillhead home for all to see.

They tell the story of Gwyneth, from when she was born on July 23, 1914, in Aberdare, South Wales, to her life as a proud mother and great-grandmother living in Glasgow a century on.

And although she received countless cards, flowers and gifts and her telegram from the Queen the sprightly OAP says her daughter’s trip down memory lane was the best present she could have wished for.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “I’ve had a really good life and it’s a great thing to share it with others. It was a fantastic present and really made my day.”

Mum-of-two Gwyneth, who returned to Scotland 40 years ago following a brief four-year spell in the country while her minister husband was based in Rutherglen, helped Glenda prepare the boards in the lead-up to her big day.

They chart copies of her birth and marriage certificates, photos of her parents, her first house and her wedding to husband Reverend Reginald White in 1939.

“Mum has a fantastic memory,” Glenda said. “She even remembers her first teacher at school was called Miss Christmas.”

Gwyneth couldn’t have picked a more memorable year to become a centenarian, with Scotland looking forward to the Ryder Cup and the independence referendum. And she marked it in the same week that Glasgow hosted the long-awaited Commonwealth Games. There’s certainly a lot of history to cover when you make it as far as 100,” Glenda laughed. “Mum has witnessed and still remembers so many major events that we couldn’t possibly fit them all on the boards, but I think they tell the story well.

“To make it to 100 is a huge achievement, so we just wanted to do something really special. I’ve always made a big deal of mum and dad’s milestones, so it was important to mark the day in a really special way.

“I think she enjoyed it. The party started at 8am and it was close to 11pm before we closed the door. People came from far and wide and cars even stopped in the street to toot their horns and wish her well.”

Gwyneth claims “family, friends and faith” are what have kept her “disgustingly healthy” all these years.

“I’m fit as a fiddle,” she smiled. “I still go to church every week and have a constant stream of visitors, which I love. I really think being surrounded by people is what keeps me feeling young.”

And for the young-at-heart pensioner, who will celebrate her 100th birthday with relatives from as far afield as Trinidad later in the year, there was just one word to sum up the party: “Awesome!”

Gwyneth’s 100-year timeline

GWYNETH LANDEG was born on 23 July, 1914 in Aberdare, south Wales.

She left school at the age of 14 and spent years looking after the children of rich families. Aged 18, she went to bible college in Porth where she met future husband Reginald White. She later moved to London to work at Billingsgate Christian Mission and in children’s homes, as well as for Dr Barnardos.

By the time the Second World War began, Gwyneth and Reg were married and living in Taff’s Well, north of Cardiff. During the conflict, the caring couple took evacuee children under their wings.

Gwyneth went on to have son Landeg, now 74, and Glenda. She spent her days as a minister’s wife. Her husband’s work took the family all over the UK.

It was only when the Queen’s Coronation took place in 1953 that Gwyneth watched TV for the first time.

In her 50s, she witnessed Beatlemania, the assassination of JFK and the birth of her grandchildren Louise and Graham.

The decades that followed signalled Prince Charles’ wedding to Diana and the collapse of the Berlin Wall, as well as the birth of two more grandchildren, Martin and John.

In her 80s Gwyneth became a great-grandmother and in her 90s, she celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary to Reg (who sadly passed away four years later), the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.