FRIENDS and family gathered to celebrate the 100th birthday of Connie Stumbles at Venn House, Lamerton, on Tuesday. Connie was born in Plymouth in 1914 and went to school at St Michael's Lodge in Devonport. She drove an ambulance during the blitz in the Second World War in Plymouth and held down a long career with Lloyds bank in the city. After the war she spent a year in the WRVS, supporting the British army of occupation in Germany. Connie loved animals and was a life-long pet owner, loving to walk and ride on Dartmoor. Connie moved to Venn from Plymouth in her later years, but continued to live an independent life, until she moved into residential care at Venn in 2004. l Picture by James Bird