0:00:05 > 0:00:08Here we are, rushing around as if there's no tomorrow.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10But what if there is a tomorrow,
0:00:10 > 0:00:14and a day after, and a day after that?
0:00:14 > 0:00:18We're not talking eternal life here, but there is a growing group
0:00:18 > 0:00:23- of people who are getting as close to that as is possible.- Hello?
0:00:23 > 0:00:26There are nearly 12,000 centenarians in Britain.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Each year, more people are reaching 100 and beyond.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32This is where people get caught.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35I just love driving and I like driving fast.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39I must have been swimming since I was 20 years old.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41That's 82 years.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44They are not simply growing old gracefully,
0:00:44 > 0:00:46but with verve and passion.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49I think it's beautiful.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56So, medical science aside, what exactly is their secret?
0:01:01 > 0:01:07In 2011, Fauja Singh became the oldest man in the world
0:01:07 > 0:01:12to complete a marathon. He was 100 years old.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17Even more astounding, he started running when he was 82.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20Fauja was a late starter in other ways too.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24He didn't even walk until he was five.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Now he lives in east London,
0:01:27 > 0:01:30and running is part of his everyday life.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Fauja represents the ultimate in successful aging.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43But thousands of Britons will face extreme old age,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47as we're living longer every year. The question is, what can we learn
0:01:47 > 0:01:51from those who are already doing it with enviable vigour?
0:01:56 > 0:02:01Paignton is home to Nina Jackson, a centenarian mermaid.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06I love swimming. Been going to swim ever since I was at school.
0:02:09 > 0:02:15I was born in Handsworth, Birmingham, on 13th July, 1908.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22I don't feel any different.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26Sometimes I feel 50, sometimes younger still.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31Nina's been pounding the pavements since she was young.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36Every day, she takes the same walk
0:02:36 > 0:02:40along the roads of her coastal retreat.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45I love walking. The other day I went to see the snowdrops at Dartington
0:02:45 > 0:02:50and they were gorgeous. I've got a free bus ticket and I never use it.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58Nina's daily constitutional takes her to a place
0:02:58 > 0:03:01where centenarians are rarely seen.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04- Hi, Nina. You OK?- Hello.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06The local pool.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10'I must have been swimming since I was 20 years old.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14'That's 82 years. I love it first thing in the morning,
0:03:14 > 0:03:21'just a little dip. I do only about 30 lengths and then I go.'
0:03:24 > 0:03:29We marvel at Olympic swimmers who break world records, but I wonder,
0:03:29 > 0:03:33will they still be hitting the pool at 102?
0:03:33 > 0:03:34I doubt it.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39I like the company, and I love the exercise. It does me good.
0:03:39 > 0:03:45I feel better. I feel as though I've really run a mile.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49To me, exhilarated, that's the word.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57Eight o'clock, I'm here, and I go out of the pool at nine.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01I'm going to go another year. I'll be 103.
0:04:07 > 0:04:13Nina and Fauja's generation has witnessed great moments in history
0:04:13 > 0:04:17and been part of it themselves. It's left a deep impression.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Are you going to wear your knapsack?
0:04:20 > 0:04:25- That would look ridiculous being dressed up.- No, it is you.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30Hetty Bower was born in London's East End.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44- This one?- Has it got a thing there? - Yes, it's exactly the same as this.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Margie Dolan is one of Hetty's two daughters.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Don't put it underneath if there's no wind blowing, Mum.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57- Looks a little bit like a granny instead of an elegant lady.- OK.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05I was always taught that you shouldn't mention a lady's age
0:05:05 > 0:05:08so I'll leave that up to her.
0:05:08 > 0:05:14Our next speaker has taken an anti-war stance since 1914
0:05:14 > 0:05:17so you can work it out for yourself. Hetty Bower.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20APPLAUSE
0:05:20 > 0:05:27My great-grandchild will be one year old on Tuesday.
0:05:27 > 0:05:33I want him to grow up and live
0:05:33 > 0:05:36in a world at peace.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40She loves the live interaction, so she loves people visiting her.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Oh, my goodness me!
0:05:42 > 0:05:46'That stimulates her, and she comes alive again'
0:05:46 > 0:05:48when she's with people that she admires.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51You've also got a strong mind and a strong heart.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Hetty's been marching for peace and left-wing causes
0:05:54 > 0:05:56since she was a teen.
0:06:03 > 0:06:04She met her husband Reg
0:06:04 > 0:06:09while knocking on doors collecting Labour Party subscriptions.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11Reg came to the door,
0:06:11 > 0:06:17and there was this very attractive and smiling young man
0:06:17 > 0:06:24and my first thought was, "What a pity he isn't Jewish."
0:06:24 > 0:06:26SHE CHUCKLES
0:06:27 > 0:06:31I little thought I was going to be...
0:06:33 > 0:06:37..a wicked woman!
0:06:37 > 0:06:40Hetty and Reg married in 1932.
0:06:40 > 0:06:46They campaigned together until his death in 2001.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52Hetty's passion for peace had taken root in World War One.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57At first, she had joined the crowds who waved the soldiers off to war.
0:07:01 > 0:07:08It didn't take long before those same men were walking
0:07:08 > 0:07:14with one trouser leg rolled up because there was no leg to go in it.
0:07:14 > 0:07:20Arms with a sleeve of their jackets.
0:07:24 > 0:07:31That was the beginning of my hatred of war.
0:07:31 > 0:07:36Hetty and Nina have energy in excess of their years.
0:07:36 > 0:07:42Like Fauja, they put many younger couch potatoes to shame.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49Other centenarians choose a slightly less energetic
0:07:49 > 0:07:51yet still active approach to life.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56It is necessary to continue to do something significant.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58If you just sit in a chair at home and read a book
0:07:58 > 0:08:01or something like that, it's impossible.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04We should all be doing something
0:08:04 > 0:08:07for the society in which we live, even at 100.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20Harry Wylie was born in Bradford, Yorkshire.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28I had two sisters before me who lived to be 100.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32It has to do somewhat with genetics,
0:08:32 > 0:08:36there's no doubt about that, but I've lived a fairly good life.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41I haven't done anything in excess. Everything in moderation.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44When he was eight, the family moved to Scotland.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48Growing up in Glasgow made its mark on the young man.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50There was real poverty about in those days.
0:08:50 > 0:08:57Glasgow had very, very bad slums and they built great tenement blocks.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00The flats became very damp and mouldy.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Ultimately, they had to be knocked down again.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Harry gave his professional life to education.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08He taught in some of the toughest schools in the Gorbals,
0:09:08 > 0:09:10and retired a much-respected head master.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14There are still things that I thought about and put into operation
0:09:14 > 0:09:19in my schools which are going ahead today.
0:09:19 > 0:09:25He helped introduce educational TV in the '60s and ran the pilot scheme
0:09:25 > 0:09:28for comprehensive schooling in Glasgow.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Harry's still taking the register,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36but now as chair of his residents' association.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38She is always late.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41If she remembers to come!
0:09:41 > 0:09:44Even at 101, he doesn't miss a trick.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46That's everybody present.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52The garage electricity is down to £44.
0:09:52 > 0:09:59That's the actual figure for this year. The terrorism insurance is up.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06I may say, I've been conducting meetings practically all of my life.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09It shows. Harry's a true professional.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14Is there any other business? Then I declare the meeting closed.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17APPLAUSE
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Amazingly enough, he does suffer from the attributes
0:10:20 > 0:10:24that Glaswegians and Yorkshiremen also do, and therefore
0:10:24 > 0:10:26keeps our finances as frugally as he possibly can.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Our centenarians' minds may still be as sharp as tacks,
0:10:32 > 0:10:37but sometimes it's the body that says, "Enough's enough."
0:10:37 > 0:10:41My mind says I can do this - getting up on a ladder for instance -
0:10:41 > 0:10:45but my body says I can't. It annoys me so much
0:10:45 > 0:10:49that I can't do the things I know I can do but my body won't let me.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Peggy Hovell was born in Ealing, west London.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56She was quite the firebrand.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05I've always been good at sports. Gym and skiing.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10Golf, tennis, badminton, squash.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Everything except football and cricket, I think.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16Such pursuits brought her into contact
0:11:16 > 0:11:19with many an eligible young man.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23She wasn't always equipped to deal with the attention.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26We met at the tennis court, and we always had mixed fours.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29They came back to my house or somebody else's house,
0:11:29 > 0:11:34that was always the regular thing. Then suddenly he was pursuing me.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37He was telephoning me, he was meeting me,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40he was picking me up in his car and everything.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43I found I'd got engaged to two different men
0:11:43 > 0:11:47roughly about the same time. I thought, well,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49it's awful telling a man you're not marrying him.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53So I thought it would be better if I never said anything,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56he'd find out. What a dreadful thing, when you come to think of it!
0:11:56 > 0:11:58- This is not all going down?- Yes!
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Oh-hoo! Help!
0:12:03 > 0:12:07Peggy's enthusiasm for the sportier side of life has stayed with her.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10It's others now that frustrate her ambitions.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15Like the charity parachute jump she attempted in her 90s.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20They said if I did that jump it would probably tear my retina
0:12:20 > 0:12:25and give me blindness. Couldn't get a doctor's certificate after that.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28We accumulate various illnesses.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34We just have to tackle them as we go along.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38For Harry, tackling means choosing precisely the right tool for the job.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41My balance isn't as good as it used to be.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43If I go for a walk, I take a stick.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46I have a three-wheeler walker and a four-wheeler walker.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50I don't use the electric buggy so much as all that,
0:12:50 > 0:12:56but if I'm going for shopping, it carries the shopping.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02The members of our 100 Club are formidable.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07They rise to any challenge - or find a way round it.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19In Lincolnshire, Nora Hardwick has found a way of life
0:13:19 > 0:13:24that appears not only to benefit her but also those around her.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27She's spent the best part of 100 years
0:13:27 > 0:13:29as a key part of her community.
0:13:29 > 0:13:35It gives me great pleasure to cut the ribbon on this 2011 gala.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38APPLAUSE Hope they're sharp.
0:13:38 > 0:13:43I think I've done my share raising money for charities.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47I was chairlady of the Darby and Joan.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50I was 35 years on the parish council.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07In 1927, Nora married Robert Hardwick,
0:14:07 > 0:14:10the blacksmith from a neighbouring village.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12They set up home in Ancaster,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16where Nora took over the post office in 1940.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Went all round the village to try and get someone to take it on,
0:14:19 > 0:14:24and nobody wanted it. They were all going to the factory in Grantham
0:14:24 > 0:14:26earning big money in the munitions.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29I'd got my two children to look after.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Instead of giving up when the war finished, I kept it on
0:14:32 > 0:14:38until 19...78, I think it was.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46As postmistress, Nora became the beating heart of village life.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49- What is it?- Pebbles.- Pebbles, lovely.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Ooh, going to bite me!
0:14:52 > 0:14:56She was on the committee in 1953 that raised the money to buy
0:14:56 > 0:15:00these playing fields for generations to come.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Ever since I was a boy in the village,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07meeting all the other mums and so on, I quickly became aware
0:15:07 > 0:15:12that my mum was different, perhaps, than the others.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14She seemed to have more energy.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16She'd do a day's work in the post office
0:15:16 > 0:15:19and then she was off and out in the village.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Nora's still giving.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26- Five for a pound!- Five for a pound? £5 worth.- £5 worth?
0:15:26 > 0:15:3345, you got one. You get the prizes. Scented moisturiser.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36- Put it back.- Put that back? All right.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39- You've got a cup and a tray. - Put those back.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Put those back in? All right. You got chicken noodle soup,
0:15:42 > 0:15:47- cream of tomato soup.- I'll have the soup.- You like that, do you?
0:15:47 > 0:15:51Nora returns her more luxurious winnings.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55- Would you like a whisky? - Yeah, rather!
0:15:59 > 0:16:03There's no doubt that Nora has enriched her local community,
0:16:03 > 0:16:08but perhaps she gets something vital and life preserving from them too.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17100-year-old marathon man Fauja Singh has taken a similar approach,
0:16:17 > 0:16:22one of mutual benefit. Today, he's in Frankfurt as part of a relay.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31Fauja started running to assuage the grief
0:16:31 > 0:16:33of losing his wife and a son.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35Now he's running for charity.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42While he may be an inspiration to others, he enjoys the acclaim
0:16:42 > 0:16:46and gets the motivation to keep going.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Others might be less physically fit
0:16:51 > 0:16:54but remain determined to keep active and in the game.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57One reason may lie in their mindset - the way they think.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:17:04 > 0:17:10Some people, with respect to them, they look old and they act old.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13I've tried to shrug that off as well as I could.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20Ron Millington was born in Lancashire.
0:17:24 > 0:17:25His family bought a farm
0:17:25 > 0:17:27keeping poultry and bees,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30but had to sell up when it didn't pay its way.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34It was a time when jobs were hard to get.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44..that things were so bad.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Having seen tough times,
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Ron is philosophical about the challenges of being over 100.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14If I sit down like I am now, I don't feel anything like 100.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19But sitting out the game can be rough when you'd rather be playing.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23For me, the perfect outdoor sport.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30Today, he's taking a stroll across the green for old time's sake.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33He hasn't lost his touch.
0:18:38 > 0:18:43Like the good old days, a chip and a putt.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48That was nearly a hole-in-one!
0:18:48 > 0:18:52Playing with Ron, it's an experience that people should have.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57When he gets round the green, he chips and he putts magically,
0:18:57 > 0:19:01as you've just seen. If he misses one,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03he jumps around and he says, "How did I miss that?
0:19:03 > 0:19:08"Did somebody knock it out?" His secret? I wish I could get in there
0:19:08 > 0:19:12and find out what it is, because I'd pinch it!
0:19:12 > 0:19:17That's the only thing I'd pinch out of this world, is Ron.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23Like Ron, Harry too keeps the flicker of his sporting days alive.
0:19:23 > 0:19:30When I was at university, I joined the rowing club.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34He was a competitive rower and taught the sport for years.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39It's remained at the heart of his daily routine,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42though now he circumnavigates the world
0:19:42 > 0:19:44from the comfort of his bedroom.
0:19:44 > 0:19:50I bought a rowing machine, the best one I could buy at the time,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52when I retired in 1973.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57I shave, I row, I shower.
0:19:57 > 0:20:02I row now until I go out of breath. 20 strokes is enough to cause that,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05now, but still, I keep my body going.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Quite an energetic exercise.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17Peace campaigner Hetty Bower has spent her life marching
0:20:17 > 0:20:21and rambling, and her mind has remained as active as her body.
0:20:21 > 0:20:27She's found a philosophy for long life that she rather approves of.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29It's pinned to her wall at home.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33It says, "How to live to be 103."
0:20:33 > 0:20:35Well, I'm past that.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Hetty, however, is a mere stripling
0:20:38 > 0:20:40compared with the author of this wisdom,
0:20:40 > 0:20:45108-year-old concert pianist Alice Herz-Sommer.
0:20:51 > 0:20:57"Develop a passion, stay curious. Learn what you can do without.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01- "Don't take yourself too seriously." - That's important.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04"Remember, we are just a drop in the ocean."
0:21:12 > 0:21:17Alice and her twin sister were born to a Jewish family in Prague.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26She was imprisoned by the Nazis in Terezin Concentration Camp
0:21:26 > 0:21:28with her husband and her son, Raphael.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34Alice is the oldest living survivor of the Holocaust.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39It was very hard. Very, very hard.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41I was there with my boy
0:21:41 > 0:21:44who was five and a half.
0:21:46 > 0:21:47He asked...
0:22:00 > 0:22:04At this age, a child is already thinking.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09Her husband died at Belsen, but she survived by playing
0:22:09 > 0:22:12in concerts held at Terezin.
0:22:12 > 0:22:17I played sonatas by Beethoven a lot. More than 20 times.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Raphael survived too.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26He was a renowned cellist until his death in 2001.
0:22:26 > 0:22:33Alice believes her attitude to life is responsible for her reaching 108.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36She holds her twin sister as proof.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49Laughing is beautiful, no?
0:22:53 > 0:22:57Over the years, Alice and Hetty have had friends in common,
0:22:57 > 0:22:59yet they've never met.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04- No, no.- Yes, here she is.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Hetty is finally meeting the author of the philosophy she so admires.
0:23:12 > 0:23:19I haven't memorised it because now it's getting difficult for me
0:23:19 > 0:23:24to learn and remember.
0:23:24 > 0:23:25I know.
0:23:25 > 0:23:26SHE CHUCKLES
0:23:26 > 0:23:31Between them, they have 214 years on which to dwell and speculate
0:23:31 > 0:23:34in more than one language.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38- I was born in Prague. - Oh, yes, I know Prague.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41Lovely city. Beautiful city.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Goethe said...
0:23:43 > 0:23:48TRANSLATION:
0:23:48 > 0:23:50You speak German?
0:23:50 > 0:23:52- SHE SPEAKS GERMAN - A little, ja!
0:24:03 > 0:24:08If you're a musician, I think that you are automatically an optimist.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12In my opinion, musicians are privileged people.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14I think so.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27Not in the world with supermarkets and not with money.
0:24:27 > 0:24:33In a world where there's peace and beauty.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Peace and beauty? Not words to describe
0:24:36 > 0:24:40the helter-skelter of the modern world.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42During the last 100 years,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46this generation has witnessed unprecedented change.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01But it's not all been progress.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04The depression that I remember
0:25:04 > 0:25:08was the one... at round about 1930, '34.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12There were hundreds of graduates walking the streets.
0:25:14 > 0:25:15Some of the men who came through
0:25:15 > 0:25:19training college with me waited three years
0:25:19 > 0:25:23before they got a job. The depression then was terrible.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25And we're living it again now.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30The '20s were really the best
0:25:30 > 0:25:34cos you were dancing, you were moving all the time.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38Henry Hall, yeah. Quick, quick, slow. Quick, quick, slow.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40I loved dancing. The best?
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Oh, well, the waltz. It's got to be, hasn't it?
0:25:43 > 0:25:44Or the foxtrot.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Elegance, romance, music...
0:25:48 > 0:25:51but that was a long time ago.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Some things, however, have definitely changed for the better.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57That was a godsend, the washing machine.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59When I think - we were a family of ten!
0:25:59 > 0:26:04It took you all day, and ironing with the irons in front of the fire.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06You had no electric iron.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09Life is so much easier.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16Peggy always moved with the times. She started driving at 15
0:26:16 > 0:26:19and has had a love affair with the motor car ever since.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23I just love driving, and I like driving fast.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27While her body may be slowing down, her car certainly isn't.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29In the war,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32I drove a grocer's van
0:26:32 > 0:26:35because all the men had been called up,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38and I delivered the groceries around.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42I have driven a coach... and I feel safer.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46And, as I say, I can go fast, but I don't go too fast.
0:26:48 > 0:26:53I believe that I'm the one to decide when I give up.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59Peggy's insurance company wasn't quite so keen on her need for speed.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04So just before her 96th birthday, she took a driving assessment.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08At the end, he said he was perfectly satisfied and composed all the time,
0:27:08 > 0:27:12and, "Mrs Hovell drives as well as a good driver
0:27:12 > 0:27:15"30 or 40 years younger."
0:27:19 > 0:27:23Others take a more chilled approach to the fast-changing world.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26I go with the flow.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30I mean, if things change, you've got to change.
0:27:30 > 0:27:31Even clothes.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35I mean, I would never have thought of wearing trousers.
0:27:35 > 0:27:40Everybody wore them, so you follow, really, the change of things.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43In my days, no woman would show their cleavage.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Oh, really? So that's changed a lot!
0:27:46 > 0:27:48SHE LAUGHS
0:27:48 > 0:27:51Well, I don't think that's something people ought to mention!
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Stop it!
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Try telling that to Miss November.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Nora is an Ancaster legend
0:27:57 > 0:28:01who came to the community's aid once again in 2008.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03All in the name of charity, of course.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07They couldn't get enough ladies for the 12 months.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10"Will you help us out, Nora?" They says, "Well, we're stripping off."
0:28:10 > 0:28:12So I said, "Oh, all right."
0:28:12 > 0:28:14It was very tastefully done.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17I had a pink tulle scarf to hide the bits and pieces.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19SHE LAUGHS
0:28:21 > 0:28:24But getting back to science and technology,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27the world has seen more advances in the last 100 years
0:28:27 > 0:28:29than in any other century.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33This has posed a challenge to the centenarians.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37Well, I think technology is racing too fast.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41Despite her protests,
0:28:41 > 0:28:45technology hasn't fazed our next centenarian.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52Lilian Lowe has seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
0:28:56 > 0:29:02I contact grandchildren on the iPad,
0:29:02 > 0:29:04and they contact me.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06My children show me pictures
0:29:06 > 0:29:11of what they've done, and I enjoy that. When I was a child,
0:29:11 > 0:29:15I had what they called a crystal set.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18I don't suppose you even know what that is.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20Also known as a cat's whisker receiver.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22No battery required.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27It was a piece of crystal with a handle
0:29:27 > 0:29:29and a wire and you found a spot.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33And to think that I have gone from that...
0:29:33 > 0:29:36to a smart phone through the ages.
0:29:36 > 0:29:3842 unread messages here, look.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42"I thought my gran, 72, was amazing to be on Facebook,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45"but you're definitely the best Facebooker ever."
0:29:45 > 0:29:49I think Facebook and smart phones waste a lot of time,
0:29:49 > 0:29:53but I admire them for the people that have invented them.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56The generation born at the dawn of the 20th century
0:29:56 > 0:29:59appear to retain their sense of wonder.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03You really can't say anything's impossible these days,
0:30:03 > 0:30:08because almost every week or so there's something new coming out,
0:30:08 > 0:30:12or some disease being treated better,
0:30:12 > 0:30:17or whatever, and it's an exciting time to be living in now, I think.
0:30:17 > 0:30:21We're just lucky to be living in this day and age.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26And Fauja Singh keeps running through it all.
0:30:26 > 0:30:31Since he reached 100, he's broken eight age-group records...
0:30:31 > 0:30:33and set a first-rate example of positive ageing
0:30:33 > 0:30:36to his 14 grandchildren.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38What's more, the modern world loves him.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50These centenarians adapt to whatever life throws at them,
0:30:50 > 0:30:52even when the going gets tough.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57Inevitably, living so long has meant losing contemporaries
0:30:57 > 0:31:00and each and every one of them has lost a spouse.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05We were together 72 years. The length of marriage
0:31:05 > 0:31:08speaks for itself, doesn't it?
0:31:10 > 0:31:14Ooh, we had our ups and downs. I'm sure everybody does,
0:31:14 > 0:31:16but we got through them.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18We both grew old together, as you might say.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26Unfortunately, I had to go into hospital
0:31:26 > 0:31:31and, er, he had to go into the nursing home while I was in there
0:31:31 > 0:31:34and I'm afraid he died while he was there,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36which was a pity, cos I wanted him home again.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41It's that empty chair.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43Yeah...
0:31:43 > 0:31:44Yeah.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47We had a lovely life together
0:31:47 > 0:31:52and she played golf, too, with me at these clubs, so...
0:31:52 > 0:31:55And she lived till she was 86.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59If I'd gone with her, that would've been a perfect ending
0:31:59 > 0:32:03to a lovely marriage, but you can't have it that way.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06Nina had only 32 years with her husband,
0:32:06 > 0:32:10but that's because she chose not to marry until she was 59.
0:32:10 > 0:32:15I mean, my mum had died, my dad had died. Everybody had died.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18I was on my own, except that I've got a brother still.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22That's all, and he died soon later...
0:32:22 > 0:32:26so I got married. It's no good dwelling on the past.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32If you do...then I'd die.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39Mortality doesn't sit heavy with this generation.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42They've been touched by it, but survived,
0:32:42 > 0:32:44and appear pragmatic about dying.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48I don't believe in everlasting life
0:32:48 > 0:32:52and I hate the thought of living for billions and billions of years.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54That thought appals me.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58I don't want, particularly want, to live any longer.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02but if I have to, well, I'll enjoy it.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05Like everybody, I want to go in my sleep.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07SHE LAUGHS
0:33:07 > 0:33:12No, it doesn't frighten me cos I've done it all, you see, haven't I?
0:33:12 > 0:33:14If it happened tonight, for instance,
0:33:14 > 0:33:16it wouldn't bother me, really.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18I mean, I've got to this age.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22Science has no doubt increased lifespan, but these long lifers
0:33:22 > 0:33:26have something more. Something inside beyond genetics,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29and they can teach us all a few key lessons.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Remain involved in what's going on around.
0:33:32 > 0:33:37While my legs are still able to carry me,
0:33:37 > 0:33:41I will walk for peace and democracy.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Stay in the game wherever you can.
0:33:44 > 0:33:49I want two tickets for Midsummer Night's Dream.
0:33:49 > 0:33:50Companionship is key.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53Harry remarried at 77.
0:33:54 > 0:33:59Take time to indulge your passion, whatever it may be...
0:33:59 > 0:34:03and do all you can to retain a positive outlook.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07Happy days, merry nights and no regrets.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10I've had a good life
0:34:10 > 0:34:15and I wish every person could say the same.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd