THE oldest member of an angling society founded in 1836 has celebrated his 100th birthday surrounded by family and friends.

George Wild who lives in Blandford, fished until the age of 95 when he could still walk along the banks of the Avon in the Woodford Valley near Salisbury.

The great great grandfather was an active member of the Piscatorial Society, which is one of the oldest angling societies in the world and celebrated his birthday on December 12.

He was a member of the 85th Field Regiment of the Territorial Army and was posted to Corsham as an artillery staff officer where he met his wife Nancy Tilley.

Their youngest daughter Mary Anderson said her father believed in ‘moderation in everything’ and enjoyed an excellent sense of humour.

“When he was asked to what he attributed his longevity my father immediately retorted ‘not dying’, which is typical of his dry humour,” she said.

He gained a civil engineering degree at Imperial College in London and joined civil engineering group John Mowlem, where he was involved in building underground tunnels in East London.

After spending four years in charge of Mowlem East Africa in Kenya Mr Wild came back to head office in London and was appointed as a civil engineering director.