A FARNHAM woman has celebrated her 100th birthday by doing what she loves most – playing bridge at her local club.

Marion Chipperfield and her family joined The Bourne Club members for birthday cake and bubbles before the important business of the evening began, playing bridge.

Marion was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on February 21, 1919, and was the third daughter of John and Maud Lovekin, who went on to have two sons.

She won a place to attend Lemington Grammar School in the north-east from where she gained her matriculation.

She was a very keen tennis player and it was while on the tennis courts aged 16 that she met John Chipperfield, five years her senior.

They married at the outbreak of the Second World War. Their first daughter, Pat, was born during the war and second daughter Kate was born at the end of the war.

While the girls were young, a residents’ association was established and it was here that Marion and John pursued different hobbies.

John became an active member of the dramatic society and Marion joined the Bridge Club – the game which was to become a huge love in her life.

Marion became treasurer of this association, a voluntary role which she carried out for around 50 years.

At this stage, she also returned to work for a private company as a bookkeeper and company secretary – quite an achievement for a woman in the 1950s.

She was widowed in 1984 at the age of 65. She eventually moved to Farnham, after much persuasion from her family, at the age of 89.

Luckily, the family found her an apartment next door to The Bourne Club where she has been able to continue her much-loved hobby of bridge.

Marion has five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, a number of who now also live in Surrey, as do both of her daughters. All of the family (24 in total) will be together at Pat’s home to celebrate her 100th birthday.