FORMER Exmoor postman Fred Messenger toasted his 100th birthday with champagne at a party on Saturday (March 4).

He was celebrating with family and friends at Eastleigh Care Home, Minehead, where he has lived since 2015.

“I particularly used to like delivering the post on early mornings on Exmoor so I could see the weather, the wildlife and the scenery,” he said.

Fred moved to Minehead from Abbeyfield residential home in Porlock with his wife, Hope, but she died later in 2015.

Growing up in London, Fred and Hope met at the wedding of a mutual friend where Hope was a bridesmaid.

They married in 1949 and shortly afterwards moved to Culbone where Fred worked for Lord Lytton on the Ashley Coombes estate. Later, Fred and Hope managed a country club at Porlock Weir.

Moving to Cutcombe, Fred became a carpenter and found work as a handyman before becoming a postman.

He enjoyed gardening, pottery, walking and listening to music. “Today he is surprisingly active and can still walk unaided,” said a member of the care home staff, Helen Calder.