PRIDE of place at Vera Howarth’s 98th birthday celebrations was given to an 111-year-old cake, but she did not risk taking a bite.

The seven-tier fruit cake was baked by her mother, Mary Emma Illingworth, for her wedding to Samuel Smedley in 1895. After the celebrations, the remaining top tier was placed in a glass case and has been kept in the family since, being brought out only for special occasions.

The couple marked their golden wedding by eating a slice in 1945. Now the white icing has turned brown, the once silver sugar balls are black, and the fabric leaf decorations have wilted.

Mrs Howarth, a retired teacher from Paignton, Devon, said: “That cake is still wholesome — but it will never be eaten now. We bring it out on special family occasions. It has many memories for me.”

Four generations of Mrs Howarth’s family were at her birthday party, including the present keeper of the cake, her daughter, Marjorie Schindler, who also lives in Paignton.

She said: “The cake has been brought out at all sorts of birthdays and celebrations over the years — it’s part of the family really. It’s incredible that it has survived all these years, and it actually is in very good nick but I wouldn’t like to taste it.

“The younger members of the family think that it’s wonderful. It will eventually be passed on to one of my children so will stay in the family.”

In the year that it was baked, Robert Salisbury became Prime Minister and Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays.

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