GEORGE Cowley celebrated his 100th birthday with his sons - even though one lives in South Africa.
Thanks to Huddersfield University the Golcar centenarian enjoyed a satellite link-up with his son, David, 62, and other family members in Cape Town.
George's other son, Gerald, 71, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren were at the university for the link-up on big screens.
And more than 6,000 miles between the two groups did not stop the party.
David and his family sang Happy Birthday and lit candles on a cake for George.
After the high-tech ISDN link - which beams video and sound around the world - ended George said he was tired after a weekend of partying, but delighted to have been able to speak to his family.
"It is amazing we could link up with them when there is so far between us," he said. "I had a wonderful few days celebrating my birthday.
"Speaking to David and the family was great."
Gerald, who lives in Cambridge, thanked the university for helping.
"Dad was in Cape Town for his 99th birthday and he had a great time," he said. "But this year we could not all be together.
"We started thinking what the best way would be and found this type of video conference was not available in any of the hotels in the Huddersfield area.
"But luckily the university does have the facility. It has been great for us all to chat on the video screen and catch up."
George is a father-of-two and grandfather- of-four and has two great-grandchildren.
He used to be a sergeant-major in the Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons.
