HE MAY be 96-years-old but Clem Pearson won't let that stop him when it comes to playing his accordion.Possibly the oldest melodeon player in the country, he has been making music since he was three and is still as enthusiastic about it as he was when he started playing at the tender age of three.

HE MAY be 96-years-old but Clem Pearson won't let that stop him when it comes to playing his accordion.

Possibly the oldest melodeon player in the country, he has been making music since he was three and is still as enthusiastic about it as he was when he started playing at the tender age of three.

He's never had a music lesson, but the great-grandad believes the old-fashioned tunes and the love of his unusual instrument is one of the main reasons he has lived so long.

Mr Pearson from Woolverstone said: “There isn't a day that I don't play; I enjoy it so much.

“I really like playing for other people too and I think music can make us understand things.

“I even played when I was serving in the Army and it helped to keep moral up.

“And I still feel the music like I did when I was younger. I don't find it harder to play - I can even still do the twiddlely bits.

“I wouldn't be surprise if I was the oldest melodeon player in the country, I don't know of any others.”

And Mr Pearson, who loves entertaining his fellow pensioners at the Spring Lodge care home in Woolverstone with renditions of Danny Boy, said that it was not just him who enjoyed all things musical, but his whole family.

He added: “I was brought up with music because my mother played the church organ.

“And my daughter has ended up as a music teacher too so it is a family tradition.”

One of Mr Pearson's seven children, Doug, said: “He knows well over 100 tunes and we all love to hear them.

“Once he gets going it is impossible to stop him though I must admit I didn't think he would still be playing at this age.”

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