A MAN whose vibrant memories span a century of Cornish agricultural life has celebrated his 100th birthday.

Jack Spurr, from Calstock, is probably the only 100 year old to have his card from the Queen hand delivered by a 15 foot puppet giant.

Here, Jack’s son Peter shares just some of his wonderful stories.

Jack has a favourite poem, Longfellow’s “The Village Blacksmith”.

As a young boy growing up at Pengelly farm near Bray Shop, a regular job of Jack’s was to take the farm horses, Prince and Violet, to be re-shod by Mr Conibear, the smithy in the village.

For Jack, the poem brings back wonderful memories of a happy childhood spent in the countryside with country folk.

At the time of Jack’s birth in 1921, the family was farming at West Penrest, in Lezant.

In those days of real horsepower, cows were milked by hand and hay was cut and built into ricks using traditional tools and skills.

The Spurrs moved to Pengelly farm when Jack was about five, and he recalls sitting on the horse drawn cart amongst all their belongings and being given the important task of looking after the fireside bellows: if they were lost there would be no fire and no tea for the family!

After the death of his father Norman at a young age, the family had to leave the farm.

Along with his sisters and his mother, Jack, then 15, moved to Wadebridge, and was employed in his uncle’s butchers shop.

He still remembers pedalling all around the area on his trusty butcher’s bike.

In 1940, a few months after war was declared, he decided to volunteer and enlisted in the RAF.

Whilst waiting for his call up papers he joined the Local Defence Volunteers.

The LDV was also nicknamed “Look Duck and Vanish” and he describes “Dad’s Army” as a very fair dramatization.

The weapons they had were WW1 bayonets stuck on poles and old 303 rifles with the wrong sized bullets.

In the RAF, Jack was a leading aircraftman, and after various postings he was stationed at Jurby in the Isle of Man.

There he met Peggy Devlin, a beautiful WRAF recruit who was to become his wife.

They married in Wallasey in 1946 and moved back to Wadebridge to start their family.

Jack obtained a job selling agricultural machinery with Watkins and Roseveare Ltd in Liskeard.

An early task was to drive one of their combine harvesters back from Truro to Liskeard, and at a speed of 5mph, it took nearly two days.

Wonderful memories

Later on he joined J. Bibby Ltd, working in the Liskeard, Callington and Saltash areas for nearly 20 years.

Jack still has an encyclopaedic memory of all the out of the way places and narrow lanes that he used to travel, and the many farmers he knew so well. Jack and Peggy and their family lived in Callington for nearly 15 years.

His children have wonderful memories of summer holidays in the family caravan at Polzeath, hours spent surfing on the cedar wood boards he made for them, and early morning mushrooming on Pentire Head.

In 1965 he decided to move the family to the village of Hessenford and convert an old watermill into a family home, a huge task and the first of many others, all carried out with vision and energy.

Jack and Peggy finally settled in Calstock in 1980. Jack has been a keen member of the team of local volunteers who raised funds and provided their own tools and labour to rebuild the village hall.

The same team were behind the remodelling of the quayside from being just a car park into a vibrant community hub.

After 58 years of marriage, Peggy sadly died in 2004, but their family continues to grow and as well as their children, John, Pete, Phil and Jane, Jack now has 14 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren, who helped to celebrate his 100th birthday.

One of Jack’s greatest joys has always been joining with friends to sing favourite Cornish folk songs, and along with Patrick and Miff Coleman, he was a founder member of the Calstock Singers.

His song book collection is often used at one of his favourite events, the Boxing Day Shout at Calstock’s Tamar Inn. There, has always enjoyed giving his solo rendition of “The White Rose” and “The Barley Mow”, just two of the many songs he knows by heart.