A LOOE man who has loved the water all his life, Len celebrated with a boat trip out into the bay.

Len’s excursion upriver and out to sea on the Demaris evoked many happy memories and was the start of a “perfect day”. A surprise birthday party at Looe Social Club saw friends and family joined by members of the Royal Naval Association and town councillors in wishing the centenarian many happy returns.

At 100, Len’s memory is sharp. He describes childhood in Looe, and his time serving in the Royal Navy as a young man.

“My father had the greengrocers in Fore Street, the Empire Fruit Shop. All my friends lived within five minutes walking distance. I went to school in West Looe and we loved spending time on the Quay and on the boats. I wanted to go into fishing but my parents encouraged me and my brothers to learn a trade. I became an apprentice boat builder with H Pearn and Sons.”

As war was declared in 1939, a 16-year old Len signed up as a Local Defence Volunteer (Home Guard) and manned a Browning Machine Gun in a team of three covering Looe Bay.

In 1944, Len went for basic naval training and was then drafted into the Coastal Forces in Scotland , tasked during the D Day landings with protecting landing craft and supply ships in the Channel from German attack.

Persistent nose bleeds dashed Len’s hopes of continuing his naval career, and on leaving the service he took a job with Fred Curtis at Polean, where a factory to serve the growing demand for Cornish pilchards was to be built. In the meantime, Len had met and married his sweetheart Joan while stationed in Scotland.

Len spent many years working as a long-distance driver, and when the pilchard heydey ended, he drove tankers with ARC Quarry near Menheniot, stopping the day he turned 65.

Having had many family holidays to Brittany with their daughters Sharon and Shirley, Len and Joan took the opportunity during retirement to explore other parts of Europe.

“Dad spent time away from home working but that was so that we could have a good lifestyle,” Sharon explains.

“Dad has always been a very easy-going man who’s always there for people. He’s a hard-working man but he’s always enjoyed life and he doesn’t stress about things.”

Len doesn’t think there’s much of a secret to his healthy old age.

“When people ask me I tell them I was lucky enough to inherit good genes from my grandparents on both sides, who lived into their 80s and 90s, and the rest of it – excuse me swearing - is just bloody good luck!”