It's a family affair as Alice hits 90 with birthday meal

AN Edinburgh woman has celebrated her 90th birthday, helping her and her siblings clock up more than 500 years combined.

Alice Farquharson turned 90 last Friday and marked the occasion by having a meal with family and friends.

Her five siblings are all still alive - brothers William Duffy, 86, and Alfred Duffy, 84, and sisters May Latimer, 94, Cathy Hurley, 92, and Irene Jerue, 76, who lives in Florida.

They are all former pupils of Merchiston School.

Alice's nephew, Graeme Duffy, 52, who lives in Slateford, said: "They are all still going strong. There are 522 years between the six of them."

Alice celebrated her birthday with a meal at Edinburgh restaurant Tusitala on the Sunday after her birthday. "She enjoyed the meal and she enjoyed having everybody there," Graeme added.

Alice grew up in Watson Crescent before moving to Harrison Road in Polwarth, where she has spent most of her life and still lives on her own. She was in the Women's Land Army during the Second World War, for which she was awarded a medal, based at East Calder.

She worked as a tailoress at Stark Brothers in Edinburgh for most of her working life.

She married husband Ronnie in Edinburgh in 1945. He passed away in 1989. The couple did not have children.

Alice, who is in good health, enjoys going shopping and for meals.

She believes the secret to the family's longevity is "remembering to do everything in moderation".

NANCY Cuthbertson will celebrate her 90th birthday tomorrow.

She was born in the Pleasance and attended the old Albion Road Primary School.

Nancy married John (Cubby) Cuthbertson in 1941, with their wedding featuring in the Evening News of December 8. The late John signed for Hibs in 1938 and, with a break because of the war, played with the Easter Road outfit until 1949.

She is a lifelong Hibs fan and an honorary member of the Hibs Supporters' Club.

Her daughter Sheila said: "Her secondary school was Broughton and she regrets having to leave at 14, although she gained certificates at night school.

"However, she has taken part in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 study. At the age of 79, she re-sat the exams she sat at the age of 11. She had improved."