Cumbrian woman's family make 100th birthday card appeal

Marjorie Try (formerly Dodd) will celebrate her 100th birthday early next month

The family of a Cumbrian woman living in Canada say they are thrilled by the "incredible" response to an appeal for cards from people in her former home, marking her 100th birthday.

Marjorie Try (formerly Dodd) moved to North America in 1955 having grown up in the village of Tirril, near Penrith.

Now in Ontario, her granddaughter has asked for 100 cards ahead of the milestone birthday on 8 November.

Kaitlyn Williams made the request on a Facebook page covering Penrith.

She told BBC Radio Cumbria she had been inspired by similar social media appeals.

"I always thought I'd really like to do that for my nana's birthday because it would be something special.

"I wasn't expecting anything like the reaction it's had. I was just hoping a couple of people would see it and we'd get a couple of cards from England.

"To have so many people commenting and saying they knew the family, it's incredible."

Marjorie worked as a nurse having trained in the 1940s

Marjorie's family moved from Tirril to Penrith when she was a teenager and, in 1945, she received her general nursing certificate before further training at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

In 1955, she moved to Canada with her husband, Edward, and their son, Tony.

Ms Williams believes her grandmother last visited England in the early 1990s.

She added: "When I was growing up she would tell us stories about growing up there and living on a farm where she took care of little piglets.

"We would often go to a little British shop in my home town and buy souvenirs - anything to remind her of home.

"And she would call her sister, Vera, who also lived to the age of 100.

"We're going to gather all the family here in Canada and visit her in the afternoon.

"There's going to be a cake and my mom is making a picture board with photos of her growing up. We're very excited."