Big family party marks 'Cat's Eyes' turning 100

A FORMER war worker who was dubbed "Cat's Eyes" for her eagle-eyed dedication is celebrating her 100th birthday.

Agnes Arthur celebrated the milestone on Saturday in Dedridge, Livingston and received a card from the Queen.

Mrs Arthur, nee Bruce, was born in Glasgow, the second of seven children.

She attended Thompson Street Primary School and then Onslow Drive Secondary until the age of 14, when she left to work as a mill hand at Templeton's Carpet Factory in Glasgow. One of her duties there was to work on a team that made nursery carpets for the royal princesses.

When the Second World War started, Agnes changed roles to become a steel inspector for Spitfire aircraft.

She was known as "Cat's Eyes" by her supervisors for not letting anything pass that was not of the highest quality.

Her daughter Christine Purchase, 64, said: "Her belief was that those men were flying for everyone, so everything had to be perfect to not let the pilots down.

"'Get Agnes to check it,' they would always say."

It was during the war while out dancing in Glasgow that she met her husband James, who was born in 1907, in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.

James and Agnes were married on July 6, 1943 at Marlborough House Hotel in Shawlands, Glasgow. Despite the war rationing the couple had a cake for their big day as two of Agnes' brothers were bakers and they gave it to the couple as a wedding present.

A daughter, Christine, was born in 1947 and a son, Bruce, joined the family in 1951.

Agnes stopped working after the birth of her daughter to focus on the family, but as her children got older, she worked part-time for Royal Liver Insurance, the company where her husband was an agent, and also had a short spell in a newsagents.

On the retirement of her husband, who was a British record-holding cyclist, they took up lawn bowls as a hobby together at Whitehill Pensioners Club.

They moved through to Livingston in 1996 to be closer to their family before James died in 1997. Agnes now has two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, is an auntie to five, a great-auntie to ten and great-great auntie to another ten.

In 1994, at the age of 83, Agnes found a passion for cross-stitching and she became a member of the Dean's Sewing and Cross-Stitching Club. She turned to long-stitching in 2005.

To celebrate her birthday a party was held at Deer Park, Livingston.

Guests enjoyed a photo show organised by her son Bruce which included some of the major events that occurred during Agnes' life.

There was also entertainment in the form of a fiddler, and an accordion player who regularly plays at the care home where Agnes now lives.

Daughter Christine said: "Mum has always been there for us. She has always been a very caring woman, always with us and always looking out for us".