A 100-year-old Northern woman has revealed that she believes the key to living a long life is not talking to “strange men”.
Olive Westerman celebrated a milestone that not many get to achieve this week – her 100th birthday.
The centenarian – who is a much-loved resident at Deewater Grange care home in Chester – was born in South Kirby in Yorkshire in 1923, and has lived a fulfilling life from starting out working as a nursery nurse for children during the war for nine months, before she met her husband Sam at the local church she’d been going to all her life.
Olive and Sam were married soon after meeting, and the lovebirds when on to share a “lifetime of happy memories” together before he sadly passed away.
The nature of Sam’s job as a clerk and a writer meant that the couple had the chance to travel all over the world.
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This even included them getting to call Singapore home for three years.
But despite everything she has been lucky to do in her lifetime, managing 100 laps around the sun is no doubt one of Olive’s biggest achievements, and so, the team of carers at Deewater Grange decided to go “above and beyond” to ensure she had a “celebration to remember”.
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As a lover of travel, Olive got to take a trip to Inglewood Manor in Ellesmere Port to celebrate her special day, and she was joined by all her fellow residents at the care home for something that she had never gotten the chance to experience before – a private “high tea”.
The home also continued the tradition that Olive’s late husband Sam began, and gifted her a bottle of Estee Lauder perfume on her birthday.
100-year-old Northern woman says the key to a long life is not talking to ‘strange men’ / Credit: Deewater Grange Care Home
“Everyone had a wonderful time celebrating Olive’s birthday, and she was particularly pleased to enjoy a very special afternoon tea,”
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“Here at Deewater Grange, we always strive to make an occasion of birthdays, and Olive’s 100th was no exception,” Sally Cooper, home manager at Deewater Grange, told Cheshire Live.
“Everyone had a wonderful time celebrating, and Olive was particularly pleased to enjoy a very special afternoon tea.
“Olive has been living at Deewater Grange for just over a year now, and the home simply wouldn’t be the same without her. Olive’s wonderful outlook on life never fails to make us smile and her quick wit definitely keeps us on our toes.”
But what exactly does Olive credit her long life to then? What is her secret?
Known at the home for her beaming smile and brilliant sense of humour, when asked this question, Olive comically responds: “Avoid talking to strange men, and you’ll be just fine.”
Featured Image – Deewater Grange Care Home
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Teen sentenced after deliberately driving into a female police officer in Stockport
Emily Sergeant
A teen who deliberately drove into a female police officer at a retail park Stockport earlier this year has been sentenced.
Harvey Bell was at a retail park on Wilmslow Road in Cheadle back on 25 January 2025 when he seriously injured a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer during a shocking incident – which left the officer requiring hospital treatment.
At the time, the 19-year-old from Knutsford was present while police were investigating reports of class C drug use in a car park.
Police parked in front of an Audi and the officer signalled for Bell to remain stationary and turn the engine off, but instead he reversed, and as the officer approached the front windscreen, Bell drove at the officer, knocking her to the ground.
He then proceeded to drive over her legs with both sets of wheels, before heading out of the car park at speed.
#JAILED | A man who deliberately drove into a police officer in Stockport has been jailed.
Harvey Bell (12/08/2005) has been sentenced to 31 months in a Young Offenders Institute and was disqualified from driving for two years.
— Stockport Police (GMP) (@GMPStockport) June 4, 2025
Bell was subsequently arrested the following day and made no comment in his police interview, but then went on to plead guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, as well as possession of cannabis on 27 March 2025.
The teen appeared at Manchester Crown Court this week where he was sentenced to 31 months in a Young Offenders Institute, and was also disqualified from driving for two years – which will take effect when he is released.
“What [Bell] did to me is permanently in the back of my mind, every call I go to, I feel the apprehension, the fear that any incident, no matter how innocuous it appears, can end with being assaulted or hurt,” the officer explained in a powerful victim impact statement read in court.
“This is an unseen result of Bell’s assault on me.”
She continued: “I know that Bell’s abhorrent behaviour is an exception, and the majority of the public we serve do not wish us harm, but assaults on police need to stop. An attack on a police officer is an attack on us all.
“Bell is a danger to society and had total disregard for my life.”
Featured Image – GMP
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IKEA announces decision to close popular Greater Manchester site
Emily Sergeant
It’s the end of the road for one of IKEA’s popular Greater Manchester sites.
The Swedish furniture giant has announced its decision to close its ‘Plan and Order Point’ over in Stockport in a couple of weeks time.
The store – which is located in Stockport town centre’s Merseyway Shopping Centre – launched to huge success back in March 2023, and at the time, was the second of this ‘test and trial’ format to open in the UK, becoming a smaller space dedicated to kitchen and home planning, as well as ordering items.
IKEA says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ which plan to take this conceptual format in a direction to ‘better suit the needs of UK customers’.
IKEA is closing its close popular Stockport site this month / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)
Since the opening of the Stockport Plan and Order Point, IKEA claims it has seen an increased demand for Click and Collect services, a desire by customers to shop a smaller selection of home furnishing accessories, as well as the ability to return goods to physical IKEA units, and this is all something which the current location is unable to offer.
Learning from this change in consumer habits, the company says its future Plan and Order Point openings – including in those in other northern cities like Hull and York – will offer these services.
IKEA says it also remains ‘committed’ to trialling new formats, such as its upcoming small stores, one of which will open in nearby Chester later this year.
Luckily for IKEA fans, the retailer has confirmed that its major Greater Manchester store in Ashton-under-Lyne, as well as the neighbouring store in Warrington, will remain open as normal, offering all the services available at Stockport and more.
The Swedish furniture says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ about customer needs / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)
In addition to the upcoming opening of a smaller store in Chester, IKEA has revealed that the North West continues to be an area of interest for future expansion.
“After careful evaluation, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the IKEA Plan and Order Point at Merseyway Shopping Centre,” explained Salma Azad, who is one of IKEA’s Area Managers.
“In the two years since opening, we’ve taken valuable learnings, including how our customers prefer to meet IKEA, and we’ll take these insights into future openings, to serve shoppers in a more impactful way.”
Thanks to last year’s Click and Collect expansion, Stockport residents can now pick up purchases from Tesco Extra Stockport and Tesco Extra Stretford, as well as the Manchester store and the upcoming small store in Chester.
Stockport Plan and Order Point’s final day of trading will be on 16 June.
Emily Sergeant -
20th January 2023 
