Sheffield’s oldest man: Great grandad, who misses Castle Market and Hole in the Road, turns 109

He's the oldest man in Sheffield. He helped win World War Two.

But at the age of 109, former Sheffield steelworker Haji Ghulam Mohammed doesn't half miss that great Sheffield landmark the Hole in the Road!

As his family gathers to celebrate his 109th birthday today (December 8), with his family, Mr Mohammed says the thing in the city he misses most from his younger days is the famous landmark at Castle Square, and the nearby Castle Market, which he also used to love.

His family reckon he is the longest living man in Sheffield.

Born five months after World War One broke out, in the area now called Indian-administered Jammu Kashmir, he survived the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918 as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.

He joined the British Army during World War Two, fighting in Burma and other South-East Asian countries.

After the war, he was invited to work and live in the UK, and was granted British citizenship.

Arriving in Sheffield, he shared a two-bed house in Attercliffe with 10 others, working for the Laycocks and Jessops steelworks. and later going on to work for a jewellers.

Mr Mohammed first married before moving to the UK. He and his wife had one child, a daughter, now 66 years old.

He then went on to marry his second wife in the 1950s, Hajjah Khurshid Begum, but she died 12 years ago. He now has 23 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

One and a half year old Muhammad Yusuf Hassan made a special journey from Birmingham to see his granddad this week as part of the celebrations.

Although he misses the old markets, he misses his own mum, Ashu, more. She died before he returned from World War Two and he regrets she was not able to see him make such a success of his life in Sheffield.

Daughter Shameem Akhtar, 40, told how proud the family was of her dad.

Shameem, who works for the NHS, said: "I'm very proud to still have my dad, at 109. He's a legend, he's my hero. I'm just a very proud daughter."

And the secret of Mr Mohammed’s longevity? He puts it all down to his diet of good old home cooked food!