MORE than 100 cards for 100 years.

That’s what greeted former Witney pastor as he celebrated the milestone at a party with family and friends.

The Rev John Cook was the former rector at St Mary’s Church, Church Green, and still lives in the town.

At his party on Wednesday more than 70 friends and family members marked the occasion.

He also received cards from the Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Mr Cook said: “It is a privilege to have received so many cards and I am somewhat overwhelmed.

“I have had a joyous ministry since 1938 and it was a joy sharing a life with all those lovely people.”

Mr Cook was born in Surrey on June 22, 1911, and was ordained at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, in 1938.

He worked in Newbury and Winkfield near Windsor, before moving to St Mary’s Church in 1968. He was there for 10 years, retiring in 1978.

Mr Cook said: “When I came here, Witney still had blanket and glove factories, and the population was 10,000 people.

“You knew everybody.

“It was a county market town and in the centre of the market there were live cattle.”

He put his milestone down to avoiding “unnecessary risk”, saying: “I did not do anything too extreme.

“My advice to others would just be to say that you should aim at being trustworthy and reliable, like a nail in a sure place.”

Mr Cook now lives in Madley Park House, a care home in Witney’s Madley Park estate.

His wife Marjorie, whom he married in 1947, died in 1990.

He has one son, Martin, and two grandchildren.

The Rt Rev Colin Fletcher, the Bishop of Dorchester, was one of those at Mr Cook’s birthday celebrations.

He said: “In his time in the residential home, he has had well over 100 different visitors coming to see him. That is a mark of the high regard people have for him.”

The Rev Toby Wright, the current rector of St Mary’s, said: “He is an incredible man. He is a man of great generosity with a deep pastoral heart.