The oldest resident in the parish of Churchill will celebrate his 100th birthday this month.

Tom Roynon will have been alive for one century on March 22, having lived in Churchill his entire life.

He is now Churchill's oldest and most popular resident and still lives independently, supported by family and many of his friends and neighbours.

Born in 1922 at Dinghurst Farm, he has seen some of humanities biggest events of the 20th century, including the Great Depression, World War Two, the Queen's coronation, fall of the British Empire, first man on the moon and collapse of the Soviet Union.

At the age of four, Tom contracted polio and consequently wasn't gifted the best bill of health as a child.

But his family say he's been very healthy in his later years and has always 'brushes aside' any minor complaints of ill health with one of his favourite sayings - 'old age doesn't come alone'.

Tom wed his only wife, May Gill, in 1948 and together they had four daughters during their 55 years of marriage.

Their family soon grew and Tom now has 12 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren.

During the Second World War, Tom and his brother worked on the family dairy farm and has many fond memories of working the land with his favourite horse called Molly.

He's always cared for animals and when the farm started to use tractors, Tom said he was 'relieved' as it took all the hard work off the horses shoulders, particularly during the summer months.

When he later retired from the family farm, he was employed by Churchill School to manage the small livestock they kept as part of the rural science department.

Tom always had plenty of time to chat with the school children, sharing his skills and knowledge of animal care and occasionally helped to turn in a profit for the department when the sheep or pigs were ready for market.

During Covid restrictions, Tom spent his birthday's on Zoom, despite not owning a mobile phone or computer, he soon found it easy to use.

But this year, his birthday party will be spent surrounded by family and friends.