World's oldest man, born in Hull and lived through Spanish Flu, is 112 today

Bob Weighton who took up the title of the oldest man in the world last month, is 112 today

Approaching his 112th birthday on Sunday, Bob Weighton said there was no secret to his longevity - and he had “never intended to be this old” .

The former teacher and engineer said: “When you are young, you don’t think about what is going to happen when you’re old, you’re self-engaged, all you think about is the here and now.”

But he did say his wide general interests from reading to constructing model windmills keep him active and young.

He was born in Hull on March 29 1908 Credit: Magnus Weighton/PA Wire

“Those are things you do either naturally or don’t do. People who complain are those who don’t explore things that they might do themselves,” he said.

By coincidence Mr Weighton passes the milestone the same day as Joan Hocquard, from Poole, Dorset, who is also 112.

Incredibly March 29 1908 was also the birthday of Scotland's oldest man Alf Smith, from St Madoes in Perthshire, who died at the age of 111, last August.

Last year, Mr Weighton, from Alton, Hampshire, celebrated his 111th birthday his many friends at his retirement flat.

But this year the supercentenarian - someone aged 110 and older - is under lockdown like the rest of the country.

The father-of-three, who had has 10 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren, said: “Everything is cancelled, no visitors, no celebration. It’s a dead loss as far as celebration is concerned.”

Mr Weighton lived through the Spanish flu pandemic which swept around the globe in 1918, when he was 10 killing between 50 and 100 million people.

He said: “I only read about it in history books when I got older.

“Actually I wasn’t aware there was a Spanish flu around because none of my brothers and sisters or people I knew were affected.

“I am sure they were, but a child’s world is not an adult’s world, a child doesn’t read the newspapers and there was no radio in those days.”

Mr Weighton said that now the “world is in a bit of a mess” with coronavirus and it worries him because “nobody knows what is going to happen”.

Self-isolation has seen the great grandfather become more dependent on the Brendoncare home where he lives, particularly for meals and from an assistant who helps him clean and lift heavier objects.

He said: "It means that I have to be more self-sufficient, do my own cooking, cleaning, read the books that I haven't read.

"I am less capable of doing things for myself than I was 10 years ago - I can't lift the weights, I can't move as fast, I can't even dress myself properly.

"I depend very much on other people these days."