An Oxford-born entrepreneur celebrated his 100th birthday last month and says his longevity is down to regular meals of meat and two veg.
John Buswell was joined by family and friends at a special party at his home in Denton, near Garsington, on August 16. The son of a farmer, centenarian John was born in 1910 at Church Farm in Stadhampton and left school at 16 to work in the pressed steel division of the Cowley car works.
After leaving to work for an Oxford country estates firm, John set up in business as an agricultural contractor, using his technical skills to improve spraying machinery, marrying Warborough schoolteacher Nellie Busby in 1941. After buying several farms in the county during the 1950s, he made his first foray into the residential park industry in the 1960s when he was asked to provide mobile home accommodation for workers at the expanding Cowley car factory.
Buswell Parks now have four sites on the outskirts of Oxford, in Headington and Old Marston, and the enterprise is managed by members of the family including John's daughter Katy and son Roger, plus John's grandchildren. Son Roger, who joined the family firm in the mid-60s, said his father’s longevity was a result of a “stable and healthy lifestyle” where nothing was done to excess, with regular weekly doses of flyfishing, his favourite pastime.
John retired in 1980 aged 70, but kept up an active interest in his business until his age and infirmity forced him to take a back seat. Roger said: “My father was never one to be over-effusive, but he often talked about getting his letter from the Queen and seemed rather pleased when he received it.”
Aptly, 100 guests joined John for his birthday party, with a cake specially prepared by a family friend to celebrate his successful farming career with a mountain of icing covered in sheep and cattle.
