“I HAVE no ambitions to become the world’s oldest woman.”

These are the words of a Basingstoke great grandmother who was celebrating her 102nd birthday this week.

Miriam Walpole was born on October 24, 1915, and grew up in London.

Fast forward 102 years and Mrs Walpole is living in Gershwin Court, Brighton Hill, and enjoyed a celebratory lunch to mark the milestone on Tuesday this week.

After marrying at 23, Mrs Walpole moved to Salisbury with her husband, and became a maths teacher, and this is where her love for academics sparked.

She told The Gazette: “I just loved working with children, they were always full of life.

“I remember one time later in my career a boy was insistent on me dancing with him and the school dance.

“Its things like that which just make you smile.”

As well as being a keen tennis and badminton player and enjoying going rambling, Mrs Walpole describes herself as an academic, with her favourite past time reading books.

Aptly, given it being the 200th anniversary year of the author’s death and her connection to the Basingstoke area, Mrs Walpole’s favourite writer is Jane Austen.

When asked which Austen tale was her favourite she said: “Probably Pride and Prejudice or Juvenilia or Emma. They are all good to be honest.

“If I were to ever go on Mastermind that would be my specialist subject, Jane Austen.”

And it is this academic background the 102-year-old said she is most proud of, saying one of her proudest moments is achieving a diploma in mathematics at 50.

Despite being driven in her younger years, with her son David even saying, “she could be competitive”, she said she has no element of competition left in her.

She added: “I don’t think it was my competitive edge that has seen me live this long, I mean we aren’t a long living family.

“I have no ambitions to become the world’s oldest woman and I’ve got a long way to go anyway.”