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Reading: Zoo celebrates its 100 year anniversary with a tea party for Centenarians
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Drusillas Park marks 100th birthday with 20 centenarians whose combined ages top 2,000 years - guests relive memories, meet lemurs and enjoy nostalgic cream teas in Sussex.
UK News

Zoo celebrates its 100 year anniversary with a tea party for Centenarians

News Room
Last updated: 2025/09/11 at 4:17 PM
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Guests at the Centenarians Tea Party. (Jam Press/Drusillas Park)
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Under blazing Sussex sunshine, Drusillas Park rolled out the red carpet this week for some very special visitors – more than 20 centenarians, whose combined ages added up to an astonishing 2,000 years of life experience.

The celebration marked a remarkable double milestone: the attraction’s own 100th birthday and the extraordinary lives of its honoured guests, all aged between 99 and 102.

The group were treated to a free day at the park, reliving fond family traditions and making new memories. From meeting the zoo’s famous lemurs to tucking into nostalgic cream teas – a nod to Drusillas’ beginnings as a 1925 tea cottage – the day was filled with smiles, stories and a touch of mischief.

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For some, the visit brought a wave of nostalgia. Diana Benton, 101, shared treasured photos from her first trips to Drusillas in the late 1940s, while fellow centenarian Peter Valentine, also 101, recalled happy days bringing his daughters and granddaughters.

Drusillas Park marks 100th birthday with 20 centenarians whose combined ages top 2,000 years - guests relive memories, meet lemurs and enjoy nostalgic cream teas in Sussex.
101 year old Diana Benton with her daughter and granddaughter. (Jam Press/Drusillas Park)

For others, the trip was a first – proof that you’re never too old for the zoo. Ivy Bull, 102, and Joan McCrudden, 100, delighted staff by scrambling onto the children’s climbing frames, both “young at heart” with “cheeky glints in their eyes.”

Drusillas’ Managing Director, Cassie Poland, told What’s The Jam: “It’s a huge honour to welcome so many centenarians to the Park.

Drusillas Park marks 100th birthday with 20 centenarians whose combined ages top 2,000 years - guests relive memories, meet lemurs and enjoy nostalgic cream teas in Sussex.
Managing Director Cassie Poland meets 101 year old Hetty Bath. (Jam Press/Drusillas Park)

“Their lives span the same century as Drusillas, and we’re so proud to celebrate with them.

“It’s wonderful to bring generations together and create new memories in the place where so many family traditions have been made.”

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Guests also met the park’s ring-tailed lemurs – the only animal residents to have been at Drusillas continuously for its entire 100 years.

The very first, Georgina, arrived when the park was still run by founders Captain Douglas Ann and his wife Drusilla.

Drusillas Park marks 100th birthday with 20 centenarians whose combined ages top 2,000 years - guests relive memories, meet lemurs and enjoy nostalgic cream teas in Sussex.
101 year old Hetty Bath with her granddaughter Carla Lee. (Jam Press/Drusillas Park)

In all, 21 people made the final guest list, including Gerry Peacock (101), Elsa Flint (100), and family matriarch Joan Murrel (99), grandmother of the park’s current owners.

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Drusillas Park, near Alfriston, has been in the Smith family since 1997 and is now run by Laurence and Christine Smith’s children, Cassie Poland and Ollie Smith. Centenary celebrations will continue throughout the year with special events and exhibitions.

For more on Drusillas’ history and centenary programme, visit www.drusillas.co.uk/centenary.

READ MORE: Couple taking ‘gap year’ travelling world with daughter, 6, say it’s CHEAPER than living in UK

Drusillas Park marks 100th birthday with 20 centenarians whose combined ages top 2,000 years - guests relive memories, meet lemurs and enjoy nostalgic cream teas in Sussex.
102 year old Ivy Bull meeting lemurs. (Jam Press/Drusillas Park)
Drusillas Park marks 100th birthday with 20 centenarians whose combined ages top 2,000 years - guests relive memories, meet lemurs and enjoy nostalgic cream teas in Sussex.
110 year old Terry Carter meets some lemurs. (Jam Press/Drusillas Park)
Drusillas Park marks 100th birthday with 20 centenarians whose combined ages top 2,000 years - guests relive memories, meet lemurs and enjoy nostalgic cream teas in Sussex.
100 year old Peggy Davis with her son Michael. (Jam Press/Drusillas Park)
Drusillas Park marks 100th birthday with 20 centenarians whose combined ages top 2,000 years - guests relive memories, meet lemurs and enjoy nostalgic cream teas in Sussex.
99 year old Joan Murrell with her granddaughter Caroline Steer. (Jam Press/Drusillas Park)

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