Ernie Hall celebrates 100th birthday surrounded by loved ones at Salford Priors care home
ERNEST Alfred Hall, known to everyone as ‘Ernie’ was surrounded by family and friends last weekend for his 100th birthday.
The big day was Sunday 26th October and at his home at Salford House Care Home, in Salford Priors, there was cake, singing and lots of celebrating.
Born in 1925 in Camberwell, South London, Ernie was the eldest of five children.
He worked all his life for an insurance company, starting as a messenger at the age of 14, and later in Ipswich.
He was a young man when the Second World War broke out, but he was unable to serve due to health reasons which included having poor eyesight.
In 1951 he married Gwen and they were together until her death in 2017.
Ernie retired in 1985 and shortly afterwards the couple moved to Bidford to be close to family.
As a boy, Ernie loved cycling, taking part in track and road events, but once he retired, bowls became his true passion and he became pretty good at it, playing at county level as well as being a coach.
Another passion he took up further on retirement was gardening and he would spend time on his allotment in the fresh air.
Ernie was also a very keen member of St Lawrence Church, in Bidford, and helped out a lot within the church until two years ago, when he moved to the care home in Salford Priors.
He has five children, five grandchildren, 14 great-grand children and one great-great-grandson.
Speaking of the big birthday weekend, daughter Valerie told the Herald how he loved being with all of his family.
“We had a huge celebration yesterday with the majority of the family over either Saturday or Sunday,” she said.
“He was surrounded by family and he received his card from the King which pleased him a lot.
“My dad had a super weekend. He’s had Alzheimer’s for quite some time but he really enjoyed his birthday cake, singing along and having everyone singing Happy Birthday to him whilst blowing out his candles.”
When asked what the secret to his long life was, Ernie answered: “Hard work and keeping yourself occupied.”