100-year-old Annie is knife thrower’s assistant at Zippos Circus in Coventry

Most ladies who are about to be 100 years old are looking forward to a quiet day, and to receiving a card from the King. But that’s too tame for sprightly Annie Duplock from Sharnford, near Hinckley, who reaches her century in August 2023. A former circus worker herself (she was on the Advance Publicity crew back in the day) Annie had a special birthday request for circus boss Martin ’Zippo’s Burton when the show was at Hearsall Common in Coventry. “I’ve always wanted to have knives thrown at me!“ she said. A wish fulfilled, daring Annie stood before knife thrower Toni Novotny during a live circus performance on 12 May 2023!