A BEWDLEY centenarian whose love of dancing once led to her taking the floor with Strictly Come Dancing star Anton Du Beke when she turned 101 has now celebrated her 103rd big day.
Gladys Callis, who was born on October 7, 1922, has been dancing for decades, often running dance events to raise cash for local charities.
The birthday girl celebrated her special day with a visit from Coun Nicole Harper, the Mayor of Bewdley, who presented Gladys with a card, a cake and candles, a box of chocolates and a bunch of flowers.
Gladys learned to dance as a young married woman and ended up teaching dancing to children and adults until late in life.
The culmination of her dancing was when her friends took her to the Anton Du Beke show for her 101st birthday, and he came down from the stage to dance with her.
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Gladys was born in Cookley and was the fourth of eight siblings.
She said she had a very happy childhood, despite being poor.
She remembers playing whip and top on Castle Road, where, at the time, there was so little traffic. Despite not having any bought toys, she played with whatever she and her siblings could find.
She particularly enjoyed sliding down local hills with her father after he watered the grass to make it slippy like an icy surface.
Gladys left school at 14 to become a setter in a carpet factory in Kidderminster, a job she loved, and continued to work there during the Second World War when the factory started making shells and bullets instead of carpets.
She met her husband Bill during the war as he was stationed at Habberley in the anti-aircraft base.
He and his friend bumped into Gladys and her friend outside the cinema in Kidderminster while the girls were eating fish and chips, and he cheekily asked her if she would give him a chip. She did and that was start of the romance which led to their marriage in 1945.
In 1961, Bill and Gladys moved to Bewdley, where Bill started to build their house and, the same year, they adopted their son David.
Coun Harper said: “Gladys is a lively lady who lives on her own and has led a very active and happy life.
“Glad is an amazing, spirited lady who uses FaceTime to keep in touch with her son and grandchildren and, on her birthday, she danced with her 90-year-old ‘young friend’ to show us she has still got what it takes.”
