NEWS: You don't look a day over 25

By Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
February 29, 2008

THERE can't be many people looking forward to turning 100 and only just getting around to their 25th birthday.

But Edinburgh-born Ellenora Donaldson, known to her friends as Nora, was born on February 29, 1908, meaning her birthday only comes round every four years.

Despite marking the century today, she's closer in spirit to her birthday age of 25 and has only recently given up her favourite hobby of hill walking.

"Now that I'm 100, I don't feel any different than I did when I was younger," said Nora.

"I've always tried to keep myself fit. I was a tailoress on Princes Street during my working life - from the day I left school to the day I retired - and I lived on Abbeyhill, so I used to walk to work, and walk home and back for my lunch.

"All the men on Princes Street used to follow me because I walked so fast. They'd say, 'Keep pace with Nora and you'll always be on time'."

Nora puts her longevity down to plenty of exercise and clean living.

She has been a member of The Cyclists' Touring Club, Britain's largest cycling organisation, for over 85 years, and also spent much time touring the Scottish hills.

She said: "I walked a couple of Munros in my time, but I've stayed mainly around Edinburgh.

"It's lucky I've made it this far after some of the scrapes I've had. I remember one time my husband and I were walking on the Pentlands on a frosty day.

"The frost was getting thicker the higher we went, and my husband turned to me and said he was starting to slip.

"We only managed to turn around in time, before one of us had an accident. If we'd slipped, it would have been a 300ft drop."

Crucially, Nora says she has never smoked and rarely drinks.

She added: "When I was a child, there were so many people who'd drink their money away. Many of my friends didn't have dads because of the drink.

"I used to see people who were well off, but couldn't afford to feed their children, because all of their money went on it, and many children died of malnutrition, because their dads didn't provide for them."

Following the death of Nora's father in the First World War, her mother joined the Independent Order of Rechabites, a Christian organisation founded around the time of the Victorian Temperance Movement, which preached total abstinence from alcohol.

Nora has stuck to these values all of her life, and only admits to taking a small sherry on special occasions.

"I'll definitely be having one today," she said. "But I better watch the Rechabites don't catch me!"

Nora has lived independently since the death of her husband Philip in 1980, and has only recently gone into sheltered accommodation at Edinburgh's Clovenstone House.

Clovenstone care worker Angela Muirhead said: "It's amazing that she's only had to rely on care in the last six months. We've had 100-year-olds before, but none have been as fit as Nora.

"We'd like to wish her all the best for her 25th birthday."