Exeter woman celebrates 105th Birthday at RAMM

A long-term resident living at a Exeter care home celebrated her 105th birthday yesterday (Friday 30) with a special tour of the Royal Albert Memorial museum (RAMM).

Margaret Howes  was born in 1909 when Edward VII was King, and has witnessed extraordinary changes like the mass introduction of radio then television, the demise of horse drawn transport as well as seeing firsthand the impact of both world wars.

Later as a professional social worker for children and the elderly in Devon and Cornwall from the 1940s onwards, she was in the forefront of major policy changes throughout her working life.

The experiences have left her with a wealth of memories and experiences but when asked what the secret to making it through 105 years of such monumental changes she remains unsure.

“I don’t know,” said Miss Howes, “I really don’t know but what I really enjoy now is spending time with young people, kids, and hearing how they are taught compared to how I was taught.”

Miss Howes now lives in Exeter care home at the Lodge, where she has been a resident for 18 years.

The Lodge owned by Elizabeth Finn Homes Ltd is a converted Victorian villa and has been extensively refurbished for the practice of modern care and nursing, with a purpose-built wing in 2005 and single en-suite bedrooms.

The hour-long special volunteer-led tour was organised by The Lodge alongside RAMM and saw Miss Howes go behind the scenes, meeting Natural History curator Holly Morgenroth in the onsite museum store.

Here she got the opportunity to see and handle some of the Museum’s rarest objects not currently on display.
 
RAMM aims to be a welcoming, enjoyable and inspirational place for visitors of all ages and has run several activities aimed at older visitors, from culture cafes in partnership with Age UK.

RAMM has wheelchair access and has recently been working to make the museum more dementia-friendly, raising staff awareness and developing activities alongside people with dementia and their caregivers, the Alzheimers Society and locally based consultants Innovations in Dementia.