Margaret Gore is head of a tree that just keeps growing.

The Sittingbourne pensioner from Lansdown Road has seven children, 24 grandchildren and 51 great-grandchildren.

It is not surprising, then, that a full family reunion rarely happens.

But a proper gathering of the clan did take place earlier this month, when this huge band of brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews etc, met at Woodcombe Sports and Social Club, Murston.

In total, 81 of the 82 extended flock were there for a surprise party to celebrate Margaret’s impending 80th birthday.

Mrs Gore said: “One of my daughters picked me up and said it was someone’s birthday and wanted me to come. When I got there, I saw a couple of my great-grandchildren running around the club so I said, ‘what a surprise seeing you down here today’.

“Then I looked outside and they were all there on the green.

“It was gobsmacking.”

Mrs Gore, who had her first child at 19, burst into tears when she realised the whole brood, minus one granddaughter, was there to greet her.

From her eldest child, who is 60, to the latest addition – a one-month great-granddaughter – she spent the afternoon surrounded by an almost full count of her own flesh and blood.

But the day was not without a tinge of sadness, as her ex-husband Bill died, aged 79, a week before the grand reunion.

Granddaughter Kelly Wratten, 35, from Lynsted Lane, Teynham, who helped organise the celebration, paid tribute to the matriarch of the multitude.

She said: “She’s fantastic, a real laugh and really bubbly. You wouldn’t think she’s as old as she is.

“She’s one of us, one of the girls, and really down to earth.”

For Mrs Gore, it was a day to savour, as she “sat in the shade with a glass of vodka” while her legion of loved ones played all around her.

She said: “It meant everything to me, the best day of my life.

“It’s something I can’t ever see happening to me again.”