Clara Meadmore, a retired secretary, who still has her own hair, teeth, and sharp wit, never had time for a family and lived alone until going into care.

She said: "I've always had lots of platonic friendships with men but never felt the need to go further than that or marry."

Miss Meadmore, who was born in Glasgow, and lived in Canada and New Zealand, before settling in Cornwall 40 years ago, also added that she had never had any interest in sex.

"I imagine there is a lot of hassle involved and I have always been busy doing other things," she said.

"When I was a girl you only had sex with your husband and I never married. I grew up in an era where little girls were to be seen and not heard so I had to learn to stand up for myself and earn my own living.

"Some men don't like that in a woman and before long I was too old to marry anyway."

Miss Meadmore has never owned a television, but she enjoys the radio, and is a particular fan of the BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour programme. She also enjoys cooking, gardening and reading.

She saved up her salary and spent the money going on walking tours in many parts of Britain in the 1920s and 1930s, and she still has the diaries of the trips.

A friend, Josie Harvey, who has known her for 30 years, said: "She was fiercely independent and believed in doing things her own way, and that allowed her to live a long life.

"She has kept a great interest in what is going on in the world and she is a wonderful source of information."

Miss Meadmore is due to celebrate her 105th birthday on Saturday at a party at the Perran Bay nursing home in Perranporth, Cornwall.

據(jù)英國《每日電訊報》報道，梅德摩瑞出生在英國的格拉斯哥，先后在加拿大和新西蘭生活過，大概40年前回到英國康沃爾郡定居。盡管梅德摩瑞105歲了，但是頭發(fā)和牙齒還沒掉，頭腦仍然非常靈敏，她退休前從事秘書工作。

梅德摩瑞一輩子沒有結(jié)婚成家，她喜歡旅游、烹飪、園藝和讀書。上世紀(jì)20年代和30年代，她經(jīng)常用積攢的錢在英國各地徒步旅行，到現(xiàn)在她還保存著那些旅行日記。梅德摩瑞沒有買過電視，但是她喜歡聽廣播。到了晚年，她進(jìn)入康沃爾郡一家養(yǎng)老院生活。

談起自己長壽的秘訣，梅德摩瑞表示與她一輩子獨身有關(guān)。她說：“一直以來我與許多男人都有著柏拉圖式的友誼，但是我從來不想與他們進(jìn)一步發(fā)展或者結(jié)婚。”她還補充說，自己對性從來都不感興趣。“我認(rèn)為這（結(jié)婚和性）會引發(fā)許多矛盾，我一直忙著做其他事，”梅德摩瑞說。

梅德摩瑞表示，一輩子獨身與自己要強的個性也有關(guān)。她說：“當(dāng)我還是年輕女孩時，受到的教育是你只能和自己的丈夫有性，而我又從來沒有結(jié)過婚。我成長的那個年代女孩們的外表比智慧更受重視，所以我不得不學(xué)會自立并努力養(yǎng)活自己。但是一些男人不喜歡女人太好強，后來我年齡太大了也就無法結(jié)婚了。”

認(rèn)識梅德摩瑞已有30年的老朋友哈維說：“她非常獨立，總是以自己的方式做事，這使她長壽。”哈維還介紹說，梅德摩瑞非常關(guān)注時事，要想了解世界正在發(fā)生什么大事，向她打聽準(zhǔn)沒錯。