Cool woman, who happens to be a virgin, celebrates 105th birthday

It's the end of the year, so I'm clearing out the files. Here's a recent story from England about the wonderful Clara Meadmore, who attributes her longevity to not having sex – or its corollary, not spending her life taking care of a man. Some excerpts from the Daily Mail story:

"When I was a girl you only had sex with your husband - and I never married. I've always had lots of platonic friendships with men but never felt the need to go further than that or marry.

"Everything seems so fast these days. I don't know a lot about young people or the way they do things.

"I grew up in an era where little girls were to be seen and not heard so I had to learn to stand up for myself and earn my own living. Some men don't like that in a woman and before long I was too old to marry anyway."

Miss Meadmore trained as a secretary and served in the Army, undertaking administrative duties in Egypt during the Second World War. She was one of the first members of the Youth Hostel Association and a keen member of the Women's Institute.

Miss Meadmore will celebrate reaching 105 with a card from the Queen and a glass of wine with her friends at the Perran Bay nursing home in Perranporth, Cornwall.

But she is determined not to let things get out of hand. "I'm hardly likely to get drunk and do something silly at my age," she said.