A GREAT-great-grandmother from Pontypool celebrated her 108th birthday yesterday with a quiet family gathering.

Flossie Elizabeth Harris, (pictured) of Viaduct Road, Garndiffaith - who is possibly the oldest woman in Wales - was visited by family including some of her great, great, grandchildren.

Mrs Harris was born in 1895, the year in which X-rays were discovered; Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest opened in London; Marconi sent a message over a mile by wireless; Freud published his first work on psychoanalysis; the world's first cinema opened in Paris and Robert Salisbury became Prime Minister.

Mrs Harris's 85-year-old daughter Fay Scrivens, who lives with her, said:

"Mum doesn't like a big fuss to be made. She's fully aware, she's got all her senses, she's more with it than me really!"

Mrs Scrivens is the last surviving of Mrs Harris's three children. Mrs Harris has three grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.

Mrs Scrivens added: "We think she may be Wales' oldest woman, but no-one has confirmed that yet.

Mrs Harris, a former domestic worker, has lived in Garndiffaith all her life. Her late husband, William Harris, worked in a Pontypool mine for 50 years.

Tomorrow Mrs Harris will attend another birthday celebration at Viaduct Road Methodist Church, which has a strong family connection.

Her parents helped to build the church back in the 19th century and both Mrs Harris and her daughter, Mrs Scrivens, were christened there.