Devoted daughter pays tribute to Sheffield 'Woman of Steel' Dot Reardon on her 105th birthday

Cairn care home resident Dot Reardon celebrated the milestone surrounded by friends and family on Monday.

On her big day she also received a card from the Queen - her third in total - and says she is already looking forward to receiving another one in a year's time.

Dot's daughter, Nina Talbot, aged 68, said: 'She's as fit and well and still as young at heart as ever.'

'Mum might be the oldest resident in the home but she certainly doesn't look her age.

'She is still fiercely independent and often walks down the stairs rather than using the lift - she calls it her '˜gym'.'

Born in Sheffield in 1913 just before the start of World War One, Dot was the sixth of seven children - four boys and three girls.

Her mother died in the flu pandemic of 1918 and the family were temporarily split up, with Dot going to live with an aunt in Worksop.

After returning to Sheffield she took up a post as a nanny in London where she met her future husband Gordon Reardon.

During World War Two, Dot worked at Pryor's engraving shell cases while Gordon served in the RAF, the couple marrying in 1940 while he was on a few days leave from the war.

The couple had one daughter, raised their family in Fir Vale and Chapeltown and traveled extensively to places including Spain, France, Italy, eastern Europe and even the USSR.

Sadly, Gordon died in 2009 but Dot continued to live independently in Chapeltown until she was nearly 100 years old, when she moved into a home.

'She enjoys life at the home particularly the monthly quiz where she gets chance to show off her vast memory,' said Nina.

'She also enjoys sitting in the garden in the summer, has a sharp mind and a somewhat mischievous sense of humour.'

On her birthday, Nina and her husband - who live in Buckinghamshire - took Dot out for lunch before more of the family joined them for afternoon tea and birthday cake kindly provided by Cairn care home on Selborne Road.