100 years old and still enjoying life - and 10 great grandchildren

So her birthday celebration was, instead, a small affair but she was in contact with her extended family via Zoom or Whatsapp and she received lots of cards to brighten her day.

She has six children, now aged from 57 to 72, 14 grandchildren aged from 22 to 45 and 10 great grandchildren including two sets of twins aged between four months to 11 years.

Apart from rather painful knees, Catherine has been lucky with her health.

With the help of a stick or a walker she usually manages to walk about 150 meters a day. She lives independently but has daily help from family members who live nearby.

She enjoys reading, sewing, jigsaws, word puzzles and still takes a lot of interest in her beautiful garden, although she no longer gardens as she did for many years.

Catherine was born in Flax Bourton, Somerset, on April 29, 1920. She is the youngest of three sisters. She went to school in Clifton and in 1938 she went to Somerville College, Oxford, but when war was declared in 1939 she went to work with the Land Army and later at Kew Gardens which gave her a ‘good grounding’ when she later set about creating her garden at Pickwick End . At the very end of the war she joined the International Voluntary Service and went to Berlin.

Catherine met Robin Eden in London and they married there in 1946. Robin was a trained cabinet maker and had worked for Peter Jones as a furniture designer.

They both had a ‘very good eye’ and this led them to opening their first antique shop in Bradford-on-Avon.

With their growing family, in 1952 they bought Pickwick End. Their new shop selling antiques and garden furniture was then run from the barn.

 Pickwick End was well known for its Annual Garden Fete which raised money for charity. Latterly, Catherine has opened her splendid walled garden once a year and been host to sometimes as many as 300 visitors.