Former Amble resident celebrates 100th birthday at Warkworth care home

Irene Sheldon (Rene) is a resident of Abbeyfield House in Warkworth and celebrated her centenary on April 26.

She received a wonderful cake baked by Helen Wilson, an Abbeyfield voluntee, and enjoyed a splendid buffet lunch with the other residents.

Despite the rain, a small group of Abbeyfield volunteers gathered in the garden to drink a glass of wine and sing happy birthday.

Rene moved to the Abbeyfield home in April 2013 from Gloster Park, Amble, where she had lived for 15 years.

She relocated to Amble from Shropshire, where her late husband Joseph worked as an area engineer for the National Coal Board covering Staffordshire/Shropshire.

Rene worked as an assistant in the local primary school.

Rene and Joe were married just weeks before World War Two was declared, so their plans underwent a dramatic change. Joe joined the army and Rene volunteered to work in a munitions factory, also enduring the horrors of the Blitz.

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