"Can I start this now?" asks centenarian Charles Whitter, as he is presented with a big bottle of bubbly to celebrate his big day.

The quick-witted 100-year-old, cracked open the champagne with friends at Kings Worthy day centre, in Church Lane.

Mr Whitter was born and grew up in Congleton, Cheshire and moved to Winchester seven years ago after his wife, Mary, died.

He now lives with his daughter, Jane McGrave, in Bereweeke Road, Winchester. He said he used to visit his son, David, in France each year, but that stopped when he "rolled down the Pyrenees".

He went for a walk, but toppled backwards off a wall, he said, and tumbled down until "a little tree caught me in its branches.

"I was in there for three hours unconscious before the rescue helicopter found me," he recalled. "But I only suffered cuts and bruises. After that, my travelling days were over."

Mr Whitter ran a family electrical and ironmonger business for many years in Congleton and retired at 65.

He says one memory that sticks in his mind was when the first motor car rumbled through the village, and he recalls seeing the first plane overhead. "What can you say? I was just transfixed," he said.

Mr Whitter was a pianist and says he played nearly every church organ in Congleton. Sadly he says he had to sell his "Boudoir" grand piano when he moved south.

Longevity, he says, runs in the family - his older sister reached 105 and his younger sister lived until 83. "I don't think there's any secret to reaching 100," he said. "You just keep on going and one day you get there."

Mr Whitter attends the Kings Worthy day centre once a week. "It's a group of people who gather every Tuesday. You have to be old to qualify," he added.

His two children, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren will be joining him for a birthday meal at Winchester's Royal Hotel tomorrow (Saturday).