One of Wales’ oldest residents celebrated her 108th birthday in Pembrokeshire this month.

Ivy Skeate, formerly of Newport Pembrokeshire, who now lives in Goodwick’s Hillside Care Home received her first card from His Majesty the King.

Ivy’s birthday fell on November 1, and she celebrated with tea and cake and family visiting the next day.

Ivy was born just months after the outbreak of World War One in Southwark, south London.

When she was a baby her policeman father patrolled the streets of south London, giving residents the all-clear following zeppelin raids with shrill blasts of his whistle. Although she was very young, Ivy remembers the war ending.

At the age of 11 Ivy won a scholarship to Grey Coat Grammar School, which she attended until the age of 16.

Tivyside Advertiser: Ivy Skeate celebrates her 108th birthday with daughter Irene.Ivy Skeate celebrates her 108th birthday with daughter Irene. (Image: Pembrokeshire County Council)

When she left school she worked as a receptionist for Universal Studios, meeting the well-known film stars of the day.

At the age of 23 she married James Arthur Skeate. They had met as teens when he attended the neighbouring boy's school. The pair also taught at Sunday School together. They were engaged when they were both 21 and married at 23. They had two daughters Margaret and Irene.

The family moved to Carmarthenshire after Mr Skeate, an Oxyacetylene engineer, was offered a job there. The family decided they wanted to stay in west Wales and moved to Newport in 1966 where they ran a small grocery shop, West End Stores, for many years. Ivy was widowed in 1988.

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Ivy has lived at Hillside since 2013. She is the care home’s oldest resident and understood to be one of the oldest people in Wales.

"I heard her say when she was in her 80s that she would not give in to old age,” added her daughter Irene on a previous birthday. “She is a very determined person, and she still enjoys life."

Annette Narbett, Registered Home Manager at the Pembrokeshire County Council-run Hillside, said Ivy was delighted to receive a card from His Majesty the King to mark the occasion.