The oldest netball club in continuous existence is the Poly Netball Club, London, UK, which was founded in 1907 and still operates as of June 2007. The name was shortened from Polytechnic Netball Club. This was printed in our archived editions, so is not ‘new’.

The oldest operating scotch whisky distillery is the Strathisla Distillery in Keith, Banffshire, Scotland which was founded in 1786. The distillery was first called Milltown Distillery and had a string of licensees until 1830 when it was passed to William Longmore who owned it for 38 years. After a fire in 1876 the distillery had to be rebuilt and was given much the same appearance as it has today. It was also in the 1870’s that it was given the name of Strathisla. Later, London Continue reading →

The record for the oldest person to perform the loop the loop on top of an aircraft is 85 years and was achieved by Tom Lackey (UK) above Rendcomb Aerodrome, Gloucestershire, UK on 29 September 2005.

The oldest person to abseil is Doris Cicely Long MBE (UK, b. 18 May 1914). She completed a descent of 197 ft (60.04 m) from the top of Millgate House, Portsmouth, UK, on 21 May 2011. She was 97 years and 3 days old. This was Doris’ 18th abseil, in aid of raising money for The Rowans Hospice. Doris insits on wearing a white helmet, as this is the colour she has always chosen for all her stunts.

The oldest person to receive an honorary degree is Harry Patch (b. 17 June 1898, UK) who, at the age of 107 years 182 days was awarded an Honorary Master of Arts degree by the University of Bristol, Somerset, UK on 16 December 2005. Harry is a veteran of World War I, served as a fireman and plumber in the Second World War and also helped build the university which honoured him. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cms/go/events/patch/index_html http://www.bris.ac.uk/cms/go/hon-degree/Dec/dec-patch.html

The oldest known divorcee was 101-year old Harry Bidwell of East Sussex, UK. He divorced his 65-year-old wife on 21 November 1980. The Alabama Department of Public Health (USA) also cites a 98-year-old male divorcee in their Vital Statistics Summary for 2000.

Welsh vocalist Shirley Bassey (UK, b. 8 January 1937) is the oldest solo female artist to reach the UK chart with a newly recorded song. She reached the Top 10 on 7 July 2007 with ‘Get The Party Started’ aged 70 years 180 days. Her first hit came in February 1957, and her 50-year chart span is a record for a female performer.

The oldest person to have a total hip replacement was John Randall (UK, b. 16 July 1909) who had a revision left total hip replacement at the age of 102 years, 3 months and 30 days. The operation was performed by Mr Ajit Shetty, Mr Ashad Lateef and Dr Patrick O’Connor at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, UK on 15 November 2011.

Edith Dewhurst (b.24 Feb 1895), of Stockport, Greater Manchester, received a hip replacement at the age of 103 at Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport on 19 Nov 1998. Edith Dewshurst underwent partial hip replacement for her right hip fracture.

The oldest person to swim the English Channel is Roger Allsopp (UK, b. 6 April 1941) who crossed from Shakespeare beach, Dover, UK, to the bay of Calais, France in 17 hr 51 min 19 sec aged 70 years 4 months on 30 August 2011. Roger Allsopp started his swim at 8 am and arrived in France just before 2 am. It was exactly 5 years to the day and at exactly the same time that Roger completed his first Channel Swim. He swam non-stop Continue reading →