The market town where people live the longest
Getty ImagesNew figures suggest that the people living the longest in England live in Wokingham.
The research from Health Connect Global, published in The Sunday Times Growing Old Index, found that residents in the Berkshire market town have an average life expectancy of just over 84 years.
Windsor and Maidenhead, also in Berkshire, has the second-longest life expectancy at 83 years. Bath and North East Somerset's average is 82.96, London's 82.13, and Solihull's 81.94.
The research was gathered from the latest Office for National Statistics and NHS data sets.
Dr Devan Moodley, CEO of Health Connect Global, said: "Across the country people are growing older and older, and depending more on the health and social care system as they develop more complex health conditions.
"Wokingham has the highest life expectancy in England, and other towns and cities need to look at what is causing this, and look at what they can learn from Wokingham."
Our reporter Neranjana Elapatha went to the Wade Day Centre, a charity used by the town's older residents, to discover the secret of living a long life...
Doreen, 90
"There's no secret. You just get on with life. That's it. There's no secrets at all!
"Meeting people, that is a thing, and chatting to people. You can't live a life on your own, completely on your own. You have to meet people.
"I have to be told how old I am because age doesn't matter. By the time you reach this age you're on the way out so to speak, or you're not!
Sandra, 82
"I don't know really, I think it's God who decides when you're born. He says she can go over there and live up to 82 years old, she can go over there and live until she's 17.
"It's him up there that decides it.
"We're the older people and we know a lot about life… and I think that's what makes it worth living."
Shelagh, 91
"Genes. Good genes. That's all.
"There's a very good community here and all around Wokingham, it's basically the spirit of people around here.
"They are very friendly and just very nice to get to know."
William, 96
"I can't believe I'm 96 but it's because when you get upset and you have an argument with someone and you get really cross about it, how long do you stay cross?
"I think, no, I won't bother about it at all. I'll forget it, scrub it all together and forget that it happened.
"There are some things that do really get to you but you have to come back to reality. What do you want from life? I've got a wife still, who I'm very lucky to have, and she's a wonderful woman, and I'm in a place where I can relax and forget about problems.
"We've all got them, some are minor, some are major, but there has to come a time when you come to a point: do I accept the moans and groans, or do I resist them?
"I love Wokingham because it's whatever you want it to be. Whatever you want to do, you could do it, if you look hard enough.
"If you're old-fashioned or you're ultra-modern, it doesn't make any difference."
These interviews have been edited for length and clarity
