CELEBRATIONS 70 happy years for couple

A COUPLE who fell in love at their local swimming baths have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

Retired post office worker Joy Milton, 89, and steam train fireman Maldwyn George, 92, met at Pontypridd Lido in the early 1940s.

They married a few years later and celebrated their platinum wedding with a meal attended by close family on August 8.

The couple’s daughter Janet Evans, 68, said her parents hit it off after meeting at Pontypridd Lido one day in 1943.

“My mother and father both loved Pontypridd Lido,” she said.

“He was an excellent swimmer and a diver. To this day he can hold his breath under water for so long I cannot believe it.

“They were in the baths and my mother fell in love with him straight away because of his physique. My mother always said he put his suit on and she had to ask where are his legs because he had such short legs!”

The pair quickly became an item and were married on August 8, 1948, at St Catherine’s Church in Pontypridd.

Janet said the family have noticed her mother’s wedding dress bears a striking similarity to the Queen’s, who married Prince Philip just under a year previously.

“When you look at the pictures, her wedding dress looks exactly like my mother’s dress,” she said. “As far as looking at the two of them, you can tell they got married in the same year because they look so similar.”

The couple went on to have four children – all girls – and now have nine grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

They enjoyed a quiet family meal at a local restaurant attended by their daughters.

Janet said: “Mum and dad we all love you and we think you are wonderful. Happy anniversary from all the family.”