CELEBRATIONS Couple celebrate 70 years together

A COUPLE who got married on Boxing Day have celebrated their platinum wedding.

92-year-old Marion Floyd and her husband Alfred, 96, met in a bus depot in London but later moved back to Wales for the cleaner air.

The couple celebrated 70 years of marriage on December 26 at the Trafalgar Park Care Home in Nelson.

Staff at the home organised a party attended by Marion and Alf’s family, friends and other residents at the home.

The pair met in a London bus depot in 1946 where Alf worked as a driver and Marion, originally from Wales, worked in the canteen.

After a brief courtship, they married the following year on Boxing Day 1947, and soon after had two sons – Philip and James.

Around 1959, the couple began to worry about the health effects of the London smog on their two children, and decided to move to Wales for the fresh air.

Marion and Alf spent many years managing the Old Comrades Club in Llanbradach, and later took on a chip shop in Trethomas, before retiring to a cottage in Tenby.

Their daughter-in-law Carol Floyd said they enjoyed many happy days in West Wales, spending long hours walking on the beaches and entertaining family and friends.

Alfred arrived at Trafalgar Park in January 2017, and Marion followed soon after in March.

Carol said it became unsafe for them to live on their own as they both suffer from dementia, but since moving to the residential care home they have been much happier and more comfortable.

“The change in mum is unreal,” she said. “She used to get quite tearful. She’s amazing now. They are so happy both of them, and the fact that they are together as well is wonderful.”

Their son, 72-year-old Philip, attended their party on December 26.

“They thoroughly enjoyed it,” he said. “They had all the people in the home involved. The staff there are absolutely marvellous.”