FORMER bobby Jim Tudor had a visit from a West Yorkshire Police chief as he celebrated his 100th birthday.
Kirklees commander Chief Supt Barry South joined members of Mr Tudor’s family – including relatives who had travelled from as far afield as Spain and Australia – at the Castle View Guest House in Newsome.
They had gathered for a celebratory lunch to mark the impressive milestone.
Mr Tudor, who lived at Newsome Road, Newsome, before moving into the Ashleigh Care Home at Primrose Hill, was a member of the then Huddersfield Borough Police Force for 31 years.
Having moved to the town from Runcorn in Lancashire, he joined the force in 1933 and became one of its best known faces, serving as a beat bobby, motor patrol officer and licensing officer.
He married wife Alma in 1937. Active members of Newsome Parish Church, they were married for 62 years before her death in 1999 at the age of 89.
During the Second World War Mr Tudor also served as a member of the fire brigade in Huddersfield and was badly burned in one incident.
A keen sportsman, he was a member of the Liverpool Harriers and Athletic Club and was a Cheshire County track champion over a quarter of a mile.
He also won the Liverpool and District quarter mile and Liverpool half-mile championships in the 1930s.
He competed for the borough police in athletics, swimming and football.
At the age of 72, Mr Tudor won the Amateur Swimming Association’s diamond award by swimming 150,000 yards in 22 months.
Nephew Tony Collinge said: “He’s still incredibly articulate and alert. I am sure that having lived such an active life and being such a good sportsman has helped him.’’
