A TOWN cafe is all in the family for five generations of females.

Three of the five women help run the Corner House Cafe in Ledbury, while the eldest member Margaret Dickinson, aged 80, remains in the Lake District.

Margaret, Sheila Swarerick, 60, of Ledbury and Malvern trio Carey Swarerick, 39, Courtney Simmonds, 21, and Phoebe Degutis, three months old, span across five different generations and very different times. 

Corner House Cafe - located on The Southend - is run by Sheila and her husband Tony.

Carey said: "We definitely all chip in where we can.

"I regularly volunteer there on a Sunday, my sister helps out where she can, and even my daughter used to work there and helps when she can."

Courtney added: "I get to eat, and Phoebe's great nan gets to spend time with her.

"It is a little luxury we have."

The earliest living memory in the family goes back to Margaret when she remembered her dad returning home from fighting in the Second World War.

Carey recalled her grandmother showing her where she used to live and where her outside toilet used to be when she was little.

Throughout the years, the family has experienced broken traditions and the start of new ones.

Margaret, Shelia and Carey all wore the same christening gown, but this ended at Courtney. 

And then, a new tradition was born with Carey after the same baby grow Courtney wore was then passed down to her daughter Phoebe. 

Courtney added: "When I was pregnant with Phoebe, I was hoping she would be a girl, so it was five generations of girls.

"It is really nice, but also crazy as my mum is still young, my nan is still young, and my great nan.

"Our family is really close - we have a big family, and I love that."