Platinum celebrations for couple’s 75th anniversary
A couple who were born and married the same year as the Queen had a right royal knees up last week to celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary.
Don and Doreen Nichols were born in 1926, and married in 1947. They lived in Folkestone in their early marriage, where Mr Nichols had completed his police training. They later moved to Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey, where their two daughters, Jenny and Gill were born, and then on to Staplehurst, Cranbrook, and finally East Farleigh.
Along with their father, the girls enjoyed following Kent County Cricket Club, and watched many matches in Kent and Sussex.
Jenny Tassell, 66, fondly remembers collecting signatures of the team when a victory party was held in Maidstone following one of their major wins.
Aside from cricket, the couple enjoyed gardening, being members of the Ashford Orchid Society and growing the flowers in their garden for many years.
Mrs Nichols has Parkinson’s Disease, and had carers visiting her at home in East Farleigh frequently over recent years. Sadly when she was taken into hospital last year, the family decided she should move into a nursing home rather than returning to the bungalow she shared with her husband. She moved into Maidstone’s Pilgrims Way Nursing Home in July last year.
Her husband hopes to join her soon, and visits her at the Bower Mount Road home most days.
“Dad wants to keep a bit of his independence, but he definitely misses living with mum,” said Jenny.
Both she and her 64-year-old sister Gill visited their parents at the Maidstone care home last Thursday to celebrate the momentous milestone with them over tea and cake. This celebration was a scaled-down version of their golden wedding celebrations, where the couple were invited to a tea party at Buckingham Palace.
This marked the 50th anniversaries of couples married in the same year as the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. They too will mark their platinum anniversary this year, in November.