Tea party to celebrate 103rd birthday of Redding's Bessie Scobbie

Elizabeth Scobbie, known as Bessie, reached the grand age on Thursday celebrating with a special birthday tea party.

Born Elizabeth Charters on May 18, 1920 she grew up in Redding where she stayed for the majority of her life. Daughter of David and Janet Charters, Bessie had two sisters, Jenny and Barbara. She attended both primary and secondary school in the village. During the war Bessie worked as a charge hand in Nobel’s Westquarter factory.

It was in Doak’s Dance Hall in Falkirk that Bessie met her future husband William Scobbie, who was from California. The couple were married in 1947 and in March 1949, they welcomed their only child, daughter Elizabeth. Bessie has two grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Sadly William passed away in 1996.

With most of her life spent living in Redding, Bessie did spend some time in Westquarter, where she now lives in Barleystone Court. She has been living in the care home for four years now, moving in when she was 99. Before that she had lived for 60 years in her home in Redding.

Aside from working in the munitions factory during the war, daughter Liz Berry said her mum had only worked at one other time.

She said: “She was of the generation that when she got married I don’t think she stopped working immediately, but she worked less. She only had one other stint of working in her life, when she worked in the kitchen at Callendar Park College of Education as it was called then.”

When it came to hobbies in her younger days, Liz said her mum was a “homemaker”.

She said: “For a few years she was in the women’s guild connected to the church in Redding. She was a homemaker really. She was an excellent knitter and embroiderer and a good baker. She did a lot of nice baking and we were so lucky to get to eat it.”

To mark Bessie’s very special birthday, the team at Barleystone Court had organised a small tea party for close family and friends. Bessie and Liz were joined by Bessie’s best friend Sandra Learmonth and Sandra’s grandson Morgan Stewart for the celebrations.

Liz, who had travelled from her home in Cornwall to be with her mum for the special occasion, explained: “The home had organised a lovely celebration, it was a tea party with a cake with her photograph on it. It was very nice of them to arrange it. She had lots of cards and presents and I think she enjoyed it. She definitely enjoyed her cake.”

When it comes to the secret to a long life, which Bessie certainly has had, Liz said her mum didn’t know one. She said: “We’d asked her before and she didn’t have a theory about it. I think she would probably say living a nice family life and being contented. She was a proper home bird. She is quite surprised that she’s 103, I don’t think she ever expected it.”