100-year-old Lottie from Woolpit, near Bury St Edmunds, celebrates birthday surrounded by friends and family

A ride in a Rolls-Royce, a pink three-tiered cake and a big family gathering was how a 100-year-old from a Suffolk village celebrated her milestone birthday over the weekend.

Lottie Lomax’s family flew in from Germany, Canada and other parts of the world to mark the special occasion and a meet and greet was organised at the Bull Inn in Woolpit, near Bury St Edmunds, on Saturday.

Then on Sunday, on her birthday, family gathered at the village hall for gifts and cake, and Lottie was able to show off her two crowns which she received for the day. And she even got to ride in a Rolls-Royce which took her to the venue.

Daughter Janette Hofer, who helped organise the day, said: “She felt like a queen – we put a crown on her head and she waved to people as we went by and he did a tour of Woolpit before he dropped her off.

“She’s loved every minute of it. She enjoys having all the family around her and she’s so happy they all made it.”

In the afternoon Lottie opened up her home for an open house so that the whole village could celebrate along with her.

Celebrating with the whole village was very important to Lottie, as she has called Woolpit home ever since she moved from Germany in 1952 after she met her husband Ernest.

She was born in Hamburg and was on the island of Sylt working in a coffee shop when she met Ernest, a British man who at the time was working for the Air Force. She moved to the UK aged 29 to marry him.

Janette added: “She was a bit nervous to start with because the war just ended and the two countries had been at war against each other. But she didn’t have any problems with anyone when she moved here. Everything went very well, everybody was very kind.”

Lottie worked the majority of her working life in the UK at the bacon factory which she cycled to and from every day.

She has two other children Holger Heresch and William Lomax. She also has 11 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.

For Lottie, Woolpit is very much home.

“She’s very much liked in the village,” Janette added. “Everyone is always willing to stop and have a chat with her and ask her how she’s doing.

“They always rally for her.”