Laura Taylor celebrates 100th birthday at Belong Wigan

Talented seamstress Laura Taylor has celebrated her 100th birthday with friends and family at Belong Wigan, on Millers Lane. Laura worked in a Manchester factory in her youth, and was soon making wedding dresses in her free time. She once made a wedding dress as a favour to a workmate, and all of their colleagues at the factory turned up to the wedding to admire Laura's handiwork.
Born Laura Dawes 1914 in Farnworth, Bolton, Laura attended Cromwell Road School as a girl. She was first married at the age of 23, to Albert Flower, but her husband was killed in a road accident less than a year later.
Laura met her second husband, Wilf Taylor, at the Park Inn in Farnworth, where he was helping behind the bar of his parents' pub, and the two married in 1947. Laura and Wilf later started up their own business as drapers in Farnworth, and had a son, Danny, who was born deaf and with Cerebal Palsy. It was feared that Danny would never walk, but when he took his first steps at the age of 4 it was one of the most exciting moments in Laura's life. Danny now lives independently in a Belong apartment and enjoys spending time with his mother every day.
Laura's 100th birthday party took place in The Venue at Belong Wigan, where Laura was joined by family, staff at the village, and friends, including Janice Reaney, who was her next door neighbour before she moved to Belong Wigan in April 2012.
When asked what the secret was to long life, Laura confided: "To work hard, take plenty of rest and, last but not least, good clean living."
Belong Wigan General Manager, Gill Menguy, said: “Laura is a marvellous lady and we were privileged to help her celebrate such a milestone in her life. We hope that Laura will celebrate many more birthdays at Belong Wigan."