Mary pulls on dancing shoes to celebrate 100th

Mary Crooks has celebrated her 100th birthday, receiving her letter from the Queen and enjoying three parties with her family and friends.

The former maid admired the telegram - her second from the Queen, the other being from her diamond wedding anniversary - as she celebrated her birthday at Archview Lodge care home in Dalkeith.

Mrs Crooks gathered with those closest to her for a combined New Year and birthday party on January 3 and followed it up with a family dinner later that week.

She didn't let the years hold her back, and took to the floor to re-live her dancing days.

Born in 1911, Mrs Crooks grew up in Dalkeith's Newmills Cottages where her father worked at the sawmill.

After leaving Dalkeith High School she worked at the local carpet factory and later the Dalkeith Fever Hospital.

When the hospital closed she became a maid for the Stuart family, owners of the cotton mill in Musselburgh.

During her time there, at the age of 25, she met Andrew Crooks, her future husband.

Her son, also called Andrew and now aged 70, said, like so many, she and his father met at the local dances.

He said: "My mother met my father at the dancing in Pathhead, where they all used to meet back then.

"They got to know each other because my father worked as a groom at Wester Cowden farm and my mother was a maid to the owner.

"They married on the eve of the Second World War and lived for 50 years on the farm. It was always home to them.

"My parents always had a car and they loved taking driving holidays in Scotland."

Mr Crooks passed away in 1999, aged 84. After living on her own in Bruce Gardens in Dalkeith for six years with the help of her son and daughter-in-law, Mrs Crooks moved to Archview Lodge in 2006.

However, she still enjoys an active life and joins the family for trips most Sundays.

The 100-year-old puts her long life down to turning down cigarettes.

Mrs Crooks said: "I remember all of the other girls at the dancing used to smoke all the time, and I was the only one that didn't.

"I felt left out and after that I bought a pack of cigarettes to try it out. When my father saw I had them he took them straight off me and said 'I'm not having my daughter smoking'.

"Perhaps that did me some good as I've never had any problems."

She added: "I enjoyed the parties very much but I was quite tired by the end as I'm not used to it. It was terrible weather that night but a lot of people made an effort to come and see me.

"It didn't stop us having a good time."

Her son added: "The nursing home did up the dining room with balloons and flowers and we had a lovely day. She was very excited about the Queen's telegram.

"If that wasn't enough we had another big party at the Dalkeith Miners' Club, so after all that she's having a well-deserved rest."