A DAREDEVIL granny is planning to zip wire 700m across a quarry lake to celebrate her 90th birthday.

Former Bulwark resident Esme Bottomley plans to travel from her Isle of Man home to ride ‘the Wire’ with her family at Tidenham’s National Diving and Activity Centre this August.

And son Andrew Bottomley said nothing surprises him about his mum, who he says is game for a challenge.

“My sister Annette and brother David rode the Wire last year and as soon as mum found out, she said: ‘I’ll have a go at that for my birthday,’ so we’ve booked ourselves in for August 12, four days before her birthday.”

The mum-of-four, who has six grandchildren, used to travel yearly from her Bulwark home to help marshal the Isle of Man TT races with late husband Ron, a keen motorbike rider.

And when a local man said he was selling his bungalow there 20 years ago, they jumped at the chance to move.

While bringing up her children Andrew, Annette, David and Simon in the Wye Valley, she was a well known face to motorists as a petrol pump attendant for 20 years at the former St Arvans garage.

“I think mum’s a bit of a daredevil,” added Andrew, a fork lift service engineer at Tesco’s Mag­or distribution centre.

“She’ll go on until she’s a hundred, and I wouldn’t put it past her doing this and trying something else adventurous afterwards.”

The Wire is one of the UK’s longest, tallest and fastest zip slides, running the 700 metre length of the spectacular NDAC quarry.

Riders launch themselves from the 70m-high cliff edge and speed at 40mph along the length of the 80m-deep flooded quarry.