Gerry celebrates 100th birthday at venue he cut hair of Oscar winner Jeremy Irons

A BARBER who retired 50 years ago — Mervyn Blow — cut a contented figure, surrounded by his many friends, as he celebrated his 100th birthday.

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Born in Liverpool to Isle of Wight parents on July 3, 1924, Mervyn — known to most as 'Gerry' — marked the happy occasion at Appley Manor, near Ryde, on Wednesday.

Honoured with a special luncheon, the centenarian spent the majority of his working life as a barber in Ventnor, Shanklin and Ryde, where he co-owned the former 5 Star Hairdressing, in Union Street, through the 60s and 70s.

Gerry celebrating his 100th birthday. (Image: County Press)

Gerry at Airframe Assemblies in Sandown. (Image: Contributed)

Gerry used to cut the hair of boys at Appley Manor, which was once a boys' school, with Oscar winning Islander Jeremy Irons one of his regulars.

With his business partner, Brian Butler, Gerry sold the business and he retired at the age of 50.

He received lots of gifts, cards — including one from King Charles and Queen Camilla — and plenty of fuss.

When asked about what his secret of long life is, Gerry said: "I eat healthily and I don't smoke. My mother and father did and I hated it. Disgusting!

"I have a few aches and pains, but I'm happy and I'm still going."

After moving to the Island as a young boy, Gerry attended Ventnor Catholic School and, a few years after he left, aged 18, he joined the RAF's ground crew as an engine fitter for Spitfires, Typhoons (137 Fighter Squadron) and Tempest (274 Pursuit Squadron) aircraft, as part of Fighter Command during the Second World War.

Mervyn 'Gerry' Blow (circled) with fellow RAF ground crew during the Second World War. (Image: Mervyn Blow)

Gerry, as a boy, got a taste for the RAF — and helped him in his application to join — by joining the local Air Training Corps to give him a better chance of getting into the RAF.

The war took him from various South Coast bases, such as Manston in Kent, to Belgium, Holland and Nazi Germany — moving through the country until finally reaching Berlin, where he saw the Reichstag, Hitler's bunker and some concentration camps, including Belsen.

When de-mobbed in 1946, after spending some extra time in Germany, Gerry returned to the Island and married Daryl at All Saints' Church, Ryde, that year.

She died in 2007.

After taking early retirement, Gerry enjoyed a full life, with interests that included alpine skiing, waterskiing and beekeeping.

Mervyn Blow at Airframe Assemblies in Sandown. (Image: Contributed)

Pictures of Mervyn Blow and his wife Daryl on their wedding day in 1946 and f him just after joining the RAF. (Image: Mervyn Blow)

The inside of the card sent to Gerry from Buckingham Palace. (Image: County Press)

Gerry also takes an interest in a £5.5 million project to restore a Typhoon, with a strong Island connection, through the Hawker Typhoon Preservation Charity.

Rear fuselage work is currently being undertaken at Airframe Assemblies in Sandown. He went to see the work after they made him an honorary member.

Many members of the charity travelled to the Island to celebrate Gerry's birthday at Appley Manor.

Gerry said he was regularly shot at by German planes and they had bunkers with mattresses on top, to protect them from shrapnel.