A CENTENARIAN has reminisced about his long life in Rugby as he celebrates his 100th birthday today (Thursday June 29).
George Benson was born in Dale Street in 1917.
He joined Wesleyan School in Chapel Street, and then moved on to St Matthew’s School.
George started working straight after finishing school at the age of 14, starting as a mail-sorter at British Thomson-Houston before moving on to work in the Lamp Factory. He then joined Shell-Mex as a drivers mate.
He met his sweetheart, Lilian, when she was 16 and they enjoyed a happy 59 years of marriage together.
When he was 18 George took his driving test in Yorkshire and worked as tanker driver for Shell Mex and BP. He moved on to Coventry Radiator as a metal polisher.
Now a resident at Elms Care Home, George remembers all the way back to his days at Wesleyan School, where he and his good friend Harold played conkers and marbles.
He said: “One day we went to the shop in Dale Street before school and bought little cashew sweets. In the afternoon during science class, Harold and I started eating the sweets and were caught by Mr Robinson, the head teacher. Mr Robinson shared the sweets with all the class!
“I remember that the old Marks and Spencer building in town was the Town Hall when I was growing up.
“I enjoyed going to the the Regal Cinema in Railway terrace and the Scala in Henry Street. I used to watch cowboy movies and loved John Wayne. I also remember there was an ice ring opposite the Scala.
“A bugler from the army used to play music in the town center, and I used to listed to him. I had never heard anything like it in my life!”
George says the secret ingredient to his long life is no alcohol and plenty of cups of tea.
His advice? “Don’t worry about things, and take them as they are. Take life as it comes.”
