Owen Filer, believed to be the oldest man in Wales, turned 107 on Friday. His explanation for living so long isn’t complicated: fish and chips and a lifetime of work.
“Fish and chips, a full meal, a scoop full of chips and a fish,” Filer told the BBC on Monday, describing a meal he eats as often as he can, usually with “genuine” cod or hake. He said he has “never overeaten.”
Beyond the food, Filer said there’s no trick to his longevity.
“How I got here I’ll never know, but I’ve met a lot of people who have admired me and asked me how I do it. No secret recipe, except that I always worked all my life. You just live properly, and I’ve always done it.”
Filer, born in 1919, is a father of four, grandfather of 10 and great-grandfather of 15. He said he never expected to reach 107.
“I thought it would be a better world I would be living in, but I didn’t think I’d ever make it,” he said.
He said his family didn’t dwell on old age when he was growing up because survival came first. “We had no food, we had no money,” he said.
Filer served with the Royal Welch Fusiliers, an infantry regiment founded in 1689, and later became a military police officer. He was stationed in India when the war with Japan ended on VJ Day in 1945.
The Armed Forces charity SSAFA marked his service with a commemorative shield at a celebration Monday in Brynmawr, home to Market Hall Cinema, billed as the oldest cinema in Wales. The event included a surprise screening of the 1955 comedy “One Good Turn.”
Darren Foote, a fellow veteran who helped organize the celebration, said Filer doesn’t understand the attention around his birthday.
“He doesn’t get it at all.”
Foote said Filer shows little sign of slowing down. “He still gets up in the morning, he puts a clean shirt on, puts his tie on, cleans his shoes, and he gets up with purpose,” Foote said. “I think we can all take a leaf out of his book on that one, for sure.”
