One of the last remaining men in Britain to have lived through both world wars has celebrated his 100th birthday.
Former dairy cattle and horseman George Forbes reached the milestone last week, surrounded by his children and family at his Ythanbank bungalow, near Ellon in Aberdeenshire.
Councillor Richard Thomson presented Mr Forbes with a bottle of 12-year-old Glendronach single malt to go along with his card from the Queen for reaching the century milestone on Wednesday.
Mr Forbes was born in Milton of Birness near Ellon, on November 6, 1914, and spent his youth tilling fields with horses before the advent of tractors, where he changed career to be a dairy farmer.
The family legend goes that on the stormy night Mr Forbes was born, two horses were struck down and killed by lightning in the fields surrounding the farmhouse, but Mr Forbes said he “couldn’t tell you if it was because of me or not”.
He met his future wife Nellie Gray at a dance, who would go on to have his six children George, Margaret, Fred, Evie, June and Sandy, who would the go on to give Mr Forbes nine grandchildren, who in turn would then go on to grant the centenarian a “puckle” of great grandchildren.
Mr Forbes said: “I feel just the same as I did when I was 16, just the same as any other day.
“Although I knew I was a few years older when I got the letter from the Queen, which was important because she doesn’t have that many 100 year old citizens.
Mr Forbes said that the key to longevity revolves around the most important meal of the day.
“Before I started taking the porridge it was the brose every morning, it was my staple diet. Just a wee bit of oatmeal, milk, and a pinch of salt and spice.
“But more importantly, be responsible and dinnae drink a lot of whisky, you’re better off with porridge or brose, whisky is just too dear.”
Mr Forbes couldn’t think of one single achievement he’s most proud of in his 100 years, but he said the surprising birth of his son Sandy ranked amongst them: “When June was born, we only had a pram for one, and back then you didn’t go to the hospital, the bairns were delivered at home.
“We were so surprised when Nellie had twins, so June got the pram, but we had to pull a drawer out of the wardrobe for Sandy to sleep in, which might be why he grew up so small.”