A SPECIAL landmark has been reached by one Ledbury woman as she turned 100 years young, and is set to become a great, great grandmother.

Iris May Walters turned a century old on Tuesday, August 12, and the day was celebrated with all five generations of the family, as they joined her at her residence in Grange Residential Home, Eastnor, Ledbury.

Mrs Walters moved to Ledbury nine years ago to be closer to her family as she was living alone.

She was born in Liskeard, Cornwall, two minutes before her twin sister Doris, with whom she shared a close relationship.

Mrs Walters moved from her home county to Southampton, as she and her first husband, Joseph May, re-located to the South coast. They had a daughter together, Margaret, but after he died as a result of a tragic accident on a building site, the mother and daughter returned home.

Years after, Mrs Walters re-married to Reg Walters who she had known through work. She worked as a ticket clipper on the buses and he used to work in the offices of the public transport service.

She lived in Cornwall before re-locating to Ledbury, following the death of Reg.

Toni Pywell, granddaughter of Iris, said: "As children we would spend many school holidays with gran and she would take us to Looe on the train.

"Gran lived in a house at the bottom of quite a steep hill and was walking up to town most days until she was 90. When things became a bit much for her to cope on her own she moved up to Ledbury to be closer to her family.

"Gran loves her Cornish pasties and would love to make them. She would check our toothbrushes to make sure they had been used, so we couldn’t get away without cleaning our teeth. When we visited we all had an apron she would make us wear when we sat to eat our meals."

As well as her daughter Margaret, Mrs Walters also has four grandchildren, nine great grandchildren and is set to become a great, great grandmother in January 2015.