QUEEN Victoria was still on the throne and the Boer War had only just started when Dorothy Blakeley was born in 1900.

The pensioner celebrates her 104th birthday today at a party with relatives, staff and friends at the Bosworth Care Home in Preston.

Mrs Blakeley is well travelled and lived in Palestine, Canada, Australia and New Zealand before she came to Dorset in 1969.

She said that one of the biggest changes she had seen in her lifetime was transport.

Mrs Blakeley said: "I like bicycles and I used to ride a lot. Transport changed a great deal when the car arrived and then there was the aeroplane."

Of her travels she said that she liked each country as she came to it. Mrs Blakeley added: "They were all a little bit different."

She still reads a lot and said: "The bible is very informative and I prefer non-fiction, preferably with an historical background."

She said of her birthday today: "I am not used to having celebrations and it has been quite an experience."

Mrs Blakeley has two grandsons and four great-grandchildren.