Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee 106-year-old treats ‘every day as a gift’

Alex Thomson celebrates with a glass of bubbly.
Alex Thomson celebrates with a glass of bubbly.

A Tayside man has celebrated his 106th birthday, and says staying active has been the key to his long life.

Alex Thomson celebrated turning 106 at the South Grange Care Home in Monifieth, where he is a resident, and was joined by his friends and family for a party.

Mr Thomson is thought to be the third oldest man in the country, and the oldest man in the Tayside area.

He worked as an electrician and was part of company Loudon Brothers from the start of his career until his retirement at 70.

He has seen his family grow through the generations and has a son and a daughter, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Mr Thomson, who had lived in Dundee for most of his life before moving into the care home earlier this year, said there was no secret to his lengthy life.

However, he thinks his love of gardening has kept him fit and healthy.

He said: “I have led a low-key life, and kept myself to myself, but I like gardening and that meant I was always active.”

He also got an early birthday wish last week, as Scotland voted No to independence.

Mr Thomson did not fight in either of the world wars due to his job being considered a ‘reserved occupation’, and was therefore forbidden from military service.

However, living through them helped him make his decision.

He said: “I had a lot of friends and some of my family were affected by both wars and they were British wars, so I knew what I was going to do.

“I had a postal vote and I was adamant that I was going to vote No.”

At his birthday party he was joined by his sister May Ferrier, his son who is also named Alex Thomson, and granddaughter Lynne Ferrier.

Son Alex has praised his father’s appetite for life.

He said: “Although he’s a bit too frail to take part in the gardening, he loves spending time outside.

“He takes every day as a gift. It’s a very inspiring thing to see.”