Pictured during 100th birthday celebrations at the Brookvale Day Centre are Enid Chapman, Carole Hand and Lyn Westwood with Alec Taylor

NOT many 100-year-olds live independently in their own homes but one exception is Alec Taylor, a remarkable man from Olton, Solihull.
And Alec, who celebrated his 100th birthday on the same day the Queen turned 80, would not have it any other way, according to his friend and neighbour Enid Chapman, who has known him for six years.
She said: "He always said 'I never want to go into a home - even the thought of it' but it doesn't stop him enjoying a visit to the Brookvale Day Centre once a week."
Enid keeps a watchful eye on Alec, and he is also supported by his daughter and social services.
Although Alec, who was once a champion boxer with an Irish featherweight title to his name, isn't as mobile as he used to be, he still enjoys following all sports on the television.
In his youth he was a keen sportsman, playing football, cricket, golf and snooker, though these days he relies on a zimmer frame to help him move around.
Alec was born in Glasgow in 1906 to an Irish father and a Scottish mother. He had four sisters and the family moved to the New Cross area of London in 1911.
Despite this he has never lost his accent, which Enid describes as an unusual mixture of Irish and Scots.
Alec and his wife Ethel (who died in 1997) had four children (two boys and two girls) and six grandchildren.
He enjoyed a career as an independent salesman in the clothing industry, travelling the length and breadth of Britain in an age when there were very few cars on the road.
The former Sparkhill resident also drove an ambulance during World War Two and had to ferry casualties of the German bombing to Birmingham General Hospital in Steelhouse Lane.
Alec himself completed a period of military service with the London and Scottish Regiment between 1926 and 1928.
He was a talented all-round sportsman, winning several medals for his achievements but it was at boxing that he excelled.
One of the former Irish champion's prized possessions is a cup he won for a six-round contest in 1922.
It is inscribed as follows: "Mr J A Taylor - Irish Olympic Featherweight Amateur Champion - v Mr Sheppard - Surrey Commercial BC. Winner JA Taylor."
Alec is also the oldest member of Solihull's Robin Hood Golf Club and has twice celebrated achieving a hole-in-one.
Over the last ten years Alec has been rediscovering his Irish roots, going on pilgrimages to Knock and Croagh Patrick in Westport.
Interestingly he was born in the same year as fellow Olton resident Edith Holden wrote her famous Diary of an Edwardian Lady.
Summing him up, Enid said: "He has got a Celtic charm and a great sense of humour. He is a lovely man to know and anyone who ever meets him can't help taking a liking to him."