A much-loved Gunnislake neighbour has celebrated her centenary birthday surrounded by friends and neighbours.
Val Watford reached the notable milestone last Friday (June 21) and was treated to an evening meal at the Rifle Volunteers pub in St Ann’s Chapel with a specially-made fruit cake.
The centenarian received about 50 cards, including one from the King and Queen and was visited by friends all day who also brought presents which largely represented her gardening interest, including a bird feeder.
She thanked everyone who helped make her birthday so special.
She said: “It’s so lovely to see people who came to see me and wish me Happy Birthday. I’m waiting for my cataracts to be sorted out, so I can see properly, so I can sort the garden out.”
Val loves being outside and spent a lot of her married life with her late husband John, to whom she dedicated most of her life, including acting as his guide after his deteriorating eyesight went totally.
His vision problems did not stop the couple touring the South West, often by public transport and walking everywhere while on holiday and after he retired as a wood machinist and yardsman.
Val was brought up in Crawley where she worked in a shop and as worked as a farm labourer during WWII in Carlisle as a volunteer Land Girl for the civilian war effort.
Val said: “I really enjoyed being a Land Girl. It’s where I got my love of being outdoors, bringing in the harvest and working the land. It was also full of fun and friends all doing something worthwhile for the country.”
She previously also worked as a gardener for a couple in a large house for 16 years in the Tamar Valley.
One of her lifelong friends is Lynda Jordan, from Crawley, the daughter of John’s best friend and colleague Dave and wife Joyce. The couple visited Val and John for many years from Crawley and Lynda keeps up the tradition.
Lynda said: “There’s no way I’d miss Val’s hundredth. She’s been part of my parents’ life forever and she’s just like family to me. She’s amazingly fit and very independent.”