Little Lucy arrives late for Cyril and Joyce’s diamond celebrations

SHE was due on the day, but little Lucy Grace arrived 10 days after her great-grandparents celebrated their diamond wedding.

Cyril and Joyce Kingdom from Sidmouth, enjoyed a surprise party with 17 guests, at the Blue Ball, Sidford, to mark their special anniversary.

The couple met at the Golden Lion, Tipton St John. Younger son David said: “Father was born in North Devon and when he left home he went to work on a farm in Tipton St John and met her in the pub.”

Joyce would have been visiting relatives who lived in the village at the time as she lived in Sidmouth.

The couple married at Sidmouth Parish Church and have two sons, Tony and David, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A former farm labourer, Cyril then worked on the railways, then buses, before he retired, and now enjoys gardening, entering his vegetables in both Woolbrook and Sidford horticultural shows.

The couple gave �30 in ‘charity’ vouchers to Sidmouth Living With Cancer during their party, after receiving them as gifts.