A Cheadle care home resident who is celebrating her 100th birthday recommends that people “stay single” if they want to live a long life.
Joyce Preston is marking a milestone that not many people get to reach in their lifetimes, as she impressively turned 100 years of age a couple of weeks back on 20 March, and so naturally, she’s been taking some time to reflect and look back on the decades she’s been lucky enough to spend on this earth.
Not only that, but the Stockport centenarian has also shared what she believes is the key to living a long life in the hopes it’ll help others to do the same.
She may currently be a resident at Care UK’s Abney Court Care Home, in Abney Hall Park in Cheadle, at the moment, but Joyce was born in Stockport on 20 March 1924.
Making the decision to never get married, Joyce instead decided to focus on her career at the Shirley Institute – which was a research centre for the cotton industry – and after years of her hard work, she went on to become the head of the company’s office in Didsbury.
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Joyce Preston, from Stockport, is celebrating her 100th birthday / Credit: Care UK (Supplied / Family Handout)
Joyce has visited many countries across the world throughout her life, thanks to a shared love of travelling on cruises with her close friends, and reveals she was the most fond of her time spent in the Middle East in particular.
Aside from travelling, Joyce has always had a passion for singing, and she spent many years performing with her local choir.
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But what exactly does she owe her 100 years to then? What does she reckon is the key to living a long and healthy life? Well, we’ll need to go back to the ‘never marrying’ part to find the answer for that, as Joyce has attributed her impressive longevity to “staying single”, and ultimately, having fun.
“I really enjoyed the day,” Joyce said, after celebrating her 100th birthday in style during a party at Abney Court last month, that was complete with a cake specially-prepared by the home’s Head Chef, and a performance by the choir she used to be a was a part of.
Abney Court Care Home in Cheadle, where Joyce is a resident / Credit: Care UK
“I especially enjoyed seeing my friends and family, and I loved the choir as it brought back memories of my time in the choir, so that made my day.”
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Zoe Smart, who is the Home Manager at Abney Court, said it was an “honour” to celebrate Joyce’s birthday with her, as she is “a beloved resident” and that everything the home does centres around “supporting residents to live fulfilling lives”.
“We are always eager to mark special occasions,” Zoe added.
“Joyce’s 100th birthday was no exception, and it was a delight to hear her sound advice for living a long and happy life and all about her travels in her younger years.”
Featured Image – Care UK
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BBC issues statement after UK forecast shows ‘hurricane force winds’ up to 14,000mph
Daisy Jackson
The BBC has issued a statement after alarming people across the UK with a weather forecast of hurricane force winds and temperatures of up to 400°C.
Mancs woke up this morning stunned to see predicted wind speeds of up to 14,000mph.
The alarming weather report hit the BBC Weather app today while Hurricane Milton batters Florida across the pond.
One person shared on X: “I guess we need to batten down the hatches with 26,898 mph winds today.”
Another asked: “Why isn’t this forecast making the news? 14,712mph wind sounds dangerous to me!! I’m going back to bed.”
But now the BBC has rushed to reassure people not to be ‘alarmed’ at the prospect of the entire island blowing away.
BBC presenter and meteorologist Simon King shared: “Oops, don’t be alarmed by some of our @bbcweather app data this morning.
— Barefoot Spooky Bartender 👣💀🍹 (@barefoottiki) October 10, 2024
“Be assured there won’t be 14408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404°C.
“It is being looked at and hopefully sorted asap.”
BBC Weather shared: “You may have noticed some data issues on our app and website. We are working hard to fix it quickly. Sorry – please bear with us.
“In the meantime here are Thursday’s weather headlines: -Colder, clearer air moving in -Rain and drizzle in south -Blustery showers near east coast”
And national treasure Carol Kirkwood said live on air: “We are having a technical glitch at the moment. It’s showing wind speeds far too fast, in fact, hurricane strength and that is not the case at all.
“Please don’t be alarmed. We are aware of it and on it.”
At the time of writing, the BBC Weather forecast service is still predicting hurricane force winds for the UK. Eek.
BBC issues statement after UK forecast shows ‘hurricane force winds’ up to 14,000mph
Liam Gallagher says Oasis reunion rehearsals have begun after blatant hints at tour support acts
Danny Jones
Liam Gallagher has confirmed that rehearsals for the Oasis reunion are now underway and has been teasing the acts that could be supporting them on the tour.
The incomparable frontman has been very vocal on social media (more so than usual) ever since the talk of their comeback was actually confirmed to be real, though we’ll admit we’re still having to pinch ourselves every few days.
Nevertheless, the Oasis reunion IS happening, the tickets have gone and even a slate of North American dates have now sold out along with an Australian tour set to do exactly the same – though there has been some furore over price differences.
Although the gigs are still a little ways away, practice for summer 2025 has to start sometime and after a fan asked Gallagher a point-blank question online, he had a simple but exciting answer.
The idea of the two actually being back in the same room still feels so surreal but we’re SO glad they are.
After the pair were first snapped posing for the reunion press shots by photographer Simon Emmett, it sounds like the two are not just in each other company but now practising those songs they first played together some 20-30 years ago.
The Britpop icons and legendary rock band also announced a new special collection of the seven-inch Definitely Maybe single pressings to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’; there are only 4000 up for grabs and they come in the actual 1996 cigarette-style CD (vinyl) box.
After rehearsals are all said and done, one thing that we still don’t know for sure is who will be supporting Oasis on their reunion tour, but that hasn’t stopped the 52-year-old from having fun with some rather heavy hints.
We don’t know how blatant or serious any of these names are, or if this is just a clever red herring or two, but let’s just say we’d be happy with any of them.
Liam is very much enjoying the usual wind-up and toying with Oasis fans.
As well as Manic Street Preachers and Cast – the lattermost having already supported Liam on his Definitely Maybe anniversary tour – there seems to be a lot of debate around whether a potential Richard Ashcroft support would include the rest of The Verve, who haven’t played together since 2017.
That being said, Blossoms have been heavily linked with the tour since they were the band to break the first reunion teaser at their massive Wythenshawe Park gig; there have also been rumblings of Kasabian, The K’s, New Order, Gene Gallagher’s band Villanelle and many more.
Again, we’ve got nothing concrete yet so you’ll just have to take LG at his word – just do so with a big fistful of salt.
Right, we’ll give you three support slots: who would be your dream warm-up acts for the Oasis reunion?
Emily Sergeant -
11th April 2024 
