A MAN who was born and bred in Whitchurch has celebrated his 90th birthday to the delight of friends.

Ray Edge turned 90 on Thursday (March 30) but held celebrations a day early with friends in the warm space in the Beacon Church in the Watergate Centre.

Ray was born in Whitchurch and has lived in the town his entire life.

Dr James Muir is one of the leaders at the church and he has known Ray for many years and spoke about how nice it was to see mark his milestone year.

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He said: "It is very exciting, he is so well.

"It is lovely to see people so full of life, health and good memory.

"It is a real joy."

Ray and other attendees were able to enjoy a special birthday cake and other refreshments.

Whitchurch Herald:

Dr Muir said: "We made a special birthday cake for him.

"We had a sing-song and wished him a happy birthday and had coffee.

"We had a good gold reminisce about his past.

"He brought his i-Pad along and we had a good look through his old photos, which was fascinating."

In his younger days, Ray was a passionate motorcycle racer and took part in races in Prees Heath in the 1960s.

Dr Muir added: "Could you believe that there was this motorcycle track in Prees Heath.

"It is so full of history, you drive past these places and you don't realise why motorcycles still congregate in the Midway Truck Stop.

"He spoke about his Norton International motorcycle with a 500cc engine.

"He made the sidecar attached to the motorcycle himself which is amazing."

Whitchurch Herald:

Ray worked as an HGV and coach driver and worked in Whitchurch and in RAF Shawbury.

Dr Muir said: "He worked for 30 years as an HGV driver and for the last 10 years he was based in Shawbury, but before that was based in Whitchurch

"He drove both HGVs and passenger vehicles. He was a driver in Shawbury in his later career.

"He described himself as a guy who taxied people around. It was more transporting passengers than fuel or anything similar.

"He said he was on standby just in case there was an air crash. I think they had a standby crew for the ambulance."

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