THERE was cake and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday when families gathered in Stratton St Margaret to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday.

Johanna Edwards, who organised the event with Emily Harris, said: “It was about getting the whole of the community here – people who are sharing their birthday year with the queen, but it was also about family.”

An invitation to the party at Grange Leisure on Sunday went round to local residents, including those in sheltered housing.

Joan Selby, 91, sat at a table with her friend Rosa Hockley enjoying the party atmosphere. A Londoner by birth, she remembered seeing the Queen on many occasions before she moved out to Swindon 30 years ago.

“If she was coming anywhere near us we would all be up there in the crowd,” she said.

She also remembered going to the watch the King’s funeral procession.

Mrs Hockley, who is three weeks younger than the Queen, had recollections of seeing the young Princess Elizabeth when she was serving in the Auxilliary Territorial Service during the Second World War and was in London in 1953 to see her coronation on June 2, 1953.

“I remember seeing her quite a lot when I used to go up to London,” she said. “I think she is lovely and she has done very well.”

Emma said: “We had lots of people come forward who were in their 80s and nineties and brought their families.”

A birthday tea with homemade cake was followed by gin and jazz in the courtyard, children’s games on the field, stalls, face painting a barbecue and a visit from the Swindon Branch of Guide Dogs for the Blind.