AN ASTROLOGICAL psychologist from Knutsford discovered she was a grandmother for the first time on a 22ft plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Joyce Hopewell, of Grove Park, heard the news that her granddaughter Madeleine had been born while taking part in Antony Gormley’s One and Other project in London.

The sculptor invited people across the country to become a ‘living monument’ on a space normally reserved for statues of kings and generals.

But around 48 minutes after Joyce took her place on the fourth plinth, the family received the phone call they had been waiting on for 27 hours.

The 63-year-old said: “I thought what are the chances of her having the baby while I’m up there – but it happened.

“My crowd of supporters started jumping up and down and when they shouted up to me and I heard what they were saying, I was jumping up and down too.

“There was applause when I announced it.

“My son, Hugh, who lives in Texas, was on the phone and he could hear the crowd cheering. It was very exciting.”

Joyce decided to become one of 2,400 people to have an hour on the plinth to read out family and friends’ answers to the question: What would you like to see more of in the world?

But because her daughter-in-law Maylis had gone into labour one month early, she had a lot more than the plinth on her mind.

Joyce, a former teacher, added: “I was very nervous beforehand because I knew Maylis was in labour so I didn’t get much sleep the night before.

“But I loved it. By the time I went up on the JCB, I was okay.”

Joyce read out around 85 answers to her question. Most people asked for things like peace, love and tolerance while one wished for more artists in the world.

Her own answer to the question was ‘inclusivenes’.

“I’d like to see people pull together rather than oppose each other,” she added.

The grandmother was watched by more than 100 people including many family and friends. She also saw many bemused faces on the tourist buses.

Joyce was secretly entered into the project by her daughter, Abigail.

She said: “I didn’t want to do it at first. I got really cold feet but when I was up there, I felt like I was 13 and a half years old.”