Joan had to be steered away from her initial wish of going on a zipline. Her reaction to fulfilling her plan B was priceless
11:11, 25 Mar 2026Updated 11:43, 25 Mar 2026
The Birthday Biker Why 100 is the Perfect Age for an Adventure
Over 100 years, the world has not stood still. Wars have come and gone. Prime ministers have risen and fallen. Streets have been built – and erased. Technology has transformed how we live, how we speak, how we remember. Through it all, Joan Lewis has been there.
Born on March 28, 1926, Joan has lived through a century of change. But if time has reshaped the world around her, it has done little to dim her sparkle. At Bryncelyn Care Home in Maesteg, staff say there may be many queens – but there is only one “Queenie.”
At 100 years old, family and friends describe her as “the life and soul of every party.” So perhaps it is no surprise that when asked how she wanted to mark her milestone birthday, Joan didn’t ask for something quiet… or conventional. Make sure you never miss Wales’ biggest updates by getting our daily newsletter
She asked to ride on the back of a motorbike.
“A few years ago we did a wish tree,” says lifestyle lead Alex Williams. “There were some lovely requests; trips to the beach, a Six Nations game. But Joan’s was definitely the wackiest.”
In fact, it wasn’t even her first choice. “She wanted to go on a zipline,” Alex laughs. “I had to gently steer her away from that – so she settled on a motorbike instead.”
Joan has a need for speed(Image: Jon Myers)
The plan was delayed by illness and hospital stays, but when the question came again ahead of her 100th birthday, Joan’s answer was exactly the same. This time, the community made sure it would happen.
“We put a post out and were inundated with offers,” says Alex. “She’ll be going out with Morris – who is 82 himself.” However, manager Stacey Morgan says the excitement has spread far beyond the care home.
“We’ve gone for a trike-style motorbike,” she explains, “but we’re expecting many more riders to turn up. Everyone knows about Joan’s adventure. The community here is really special.”
And in many ways, that motorbike ride is more than just a birthday wish. It is actually a way of remembering the past.
This is something she has hoped to do since she was a little girl(Image: Jon Myers)
When we meet, Joan is tucking into a custard tart – a favourite – her face lighting up with a smile that feels decades younger than the number attached to it. It is hard to reconcile the idea of 100 years with the woman sitting in front of me.
“I’m a proud Port Talbot girl,” she says, beaming. “I had a wonderful time down there.” She reminisces about visits to Neath Fair with her father and siblings. Dancing at Eastern Youth Club, where a certain Hollywood actor would frequent during his early years.
“I knew Richard Burton, but not very well,” Joan says “he was very quiet – not like me.”
But like so much else over the past century, the places she remembers have changed – or disappeared altogether. Joan grew up on Carmarthen Row, the youngest of four children, in a street that no longer exists.
She is so grateful to Morris for offering his time (Image: Jon Myers)
“I don’t know anybody now who would remember it,” she says. “They knocked it all down when they built the M4 flyover, there are big pillars where our houses used to be.”
The physical place may be gone, but in Joan’s memory, it is still vividly alive. “There was a paving stone by the back door. My mother would sit there in the sunshine – not that it happened often,” she says in a matter of fact tone. “The toilet was at the bottom of the garden. We had a china pot under the bed in case we didn’t make it.”
At the heart of those memories is her mother, a formidable presence. “My mother was the boss of everything and everyone,” Joan says. “Someone once called her by her Christian name – she wasn’t happy. After that, everyone called her ‘Auntie’. She was my go-to. The biggest influence on my life.”
Joan said her mother was her biggest influence(Image: Jon Myers)
But time, as Joan knows better than most, brings loss as well as change. Her mother died when Joan was just 13, forcing her to leave studies and help support her father.
She speaks fondly of the people who helped shape her in the years that followed – particularly her older sisters, who became figures of strength and example.
Joan tells me one story about when one of them married. “My brother in law was in the cavalry,” she says. “He came over from India. He knew my family, though I am not sure how. He tried to court one of my sisters but they didn’t really hit it off. But when he met my oldest sister – they fell in love. He was very handsome. I remember he gave me half-crown to buy fireworks. I loved him!”
Indeed, it was her brother-in-law that inspired her to ride a motorbike in the first place. “He used to ride a Harley Davidson. I wanted to ride one of them – but they wouldn’t let me! The trike will have to do.”
She always dreamed of riding a Harley Davidson(Image: Jon Myers)
When asked about her own marriage however, Joan says that meeting Bernard wasn’t quite as romantic. “It was down Neath Port Talbot – we met when we were out dancing,” she smiles. “He was wonderful.”
The couple went on to marry in 1946 and have three children together: Theresa, Chris and Jane.
In many ways Joan’s desire to try a zipwire or ride a motorbike is entirely in keeping with the life she’s had. “Have you got time?”, Theresa asks before detailing her mother’s colourful and varied life.
“She would have been a top student, she was the brainiest in the family [but due to her circumstances] ended up working in shops, a Post Office, a butcher’s, two pubs, a factory, and at 50-odd she ended up working at the DVLA.
Smiles all around!(Image: Jon Myers)
“She also sung in a choir and did voluntary work in the Credit Union which first started in those days. She acted in the Passion Play in Margam park and made the costumes.
“She’s always wanted to do this [ride a motorbike] but she just hasn’t had the ability to do it either financially, or because she’s always had children or grandchildren to look after.”
Describing her mam as “fantastic” and the “matriarch of the family”, Theresa says: “She wasn’t just a great mother to me. She was strict when I was young but as I grew older she taught me how to pull socks up and get back on with it, she always helped everyone like that.
“And when I’ve had ups and downs in my family my mother always stepped in, whether it was emotional support or financial support. She was just the person who was always there.
Joan remains the matriarch of her family (Image: Jon Myers)
“So when she said to me the other day: ‘Oh, I’m no use to you now that I’m like this,’ I said: ‘Excuse me! Without you, I wouldn’t have had anything. so it’s my turn to look after you.”
Theresa says she’s “delighted” that her mam finally gets to fulfil her dream. “I’m overwhelmed. I’m just so delighted because this is something mam has wanted to do for a long time. The staff here are amazing, this is a dream fulfilled. I’m just grateful.”
No conversation with a centenarian would be complete without asking: “What is your secret to a long, happy and healthy life?”
“Keep taking your tablets!,” Joan exclaims without any hesitation – but she has a few more tricks up her sleeve, according to Theresa: “She’s always told me to keep busy, keep active and have a little glass of whiskey and lemonade at night… and keep taking your tablets.”
