CLARA Cavell Jones started cooking over an open fire before the Great Depression and has seen every iteration of oven up to computerised stoves.

The resident of Estia Health's Ironbark facility near Bendigo in VIC, celebrated her 103rd birthday with a high tea with family and friends last week.

When she was eight years old, she would return home from school and mind her neighbours' children, feed the goat and milk it, and cook over an open indoor fire.

Clara says, "Most people can knit and sew or write poetry. I can't do any of those things. The only thing I can do is cook."

Five generations of women gathered to celebrate Clara’s birthday - including her namesake and newest member of the family, five-month-old Clara Doolan.