CELEBRATIONS ‘A truly wonderful couple’
A COUPLE who met at a dance in the 1940s have celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary.
Aneurin and Phyllis Evans, known in their home village of Clydach Vale in the Rhondda as Nye and Pip, celebrated 70 years of marriage on December 20.
They were treated to visits from family members throughout the week and had a small gathering at their home on the day of their anniversary.
Although born in the Rhondda, Aneurin left for Slough in Berkshire with his parents in the mid-1930s to join his uncle, professional boxing legend Tommy Farr.
Years later, Nye and Pip met on a night out dancing in Slough in 1945.
Phyllis, 88, said: “He asked me to dance and, as usual, we had a good chat and a dance and we carried on from there. He took me on a few dates afterwards.”
The couple wed at the local register office five days before Christmas in 1947. It was held as a double wedding with Phyllis’ sister Molly and her fiancé Fred.
Aneurin and Phyllis went on to have two children, Paul and Debra, and now have six grandchildren, 11 greatgrandchildren and one great-great grandchild.
“It’s a very expensive Christmas!” Phyllis said.
Aneurin worked as a computer programmer for ML Aviation until the company moved in the late 1980s.
Following his retirement in 1989, the couple decided to move back to Clydach Vale where they have lived since.
Ninety-year-old Aneurin, who suffered a stroke a few years ago which limits his mobility, said he enjoyed the celebration.
“All the family came down and we had a little house party,” he said.
And the couple got a card from a member of the Royal Family who recently celebrated her own 70th wedding anniversary. “We had a nice card from Buckingham Palace signed by the Queen,” Aneurin said.
Meanwhile, he quipped that one of the secrets of his own marriage’s success was that he “only speaks when spoken to”, an attitude he keeps with his marriage.
Phyllis said they both get on very well and have rarely argued in their 70 years.
Friend of the family, Gaynor Merritt, described Aneurin and Phyllis as a “truly wonderful couple whose kindness to others shows no bounds”.