A caring couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in right royal style – with a telegram from the Queen and surrounded by their family.
Bill Davies, 83, and Mary Hazel Davies, 82, who have two daughters and three grandchildren, marked the auspicious occasion with a party at Highfield care home at the Pendine Park care organisation, in Wrexham, where Mary is a resident.
Retired joiner Bill, who lives in Penycae visits her at Pendine Park every single day.
He said: “We’ve had a very happy life together.
“It’s wonderful to have a telegram from the Queen because our diamond wedding anniversary is a big milestone. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been married for so long.
“I think our marriage lasted because we’re both pretty even-tempered. We never fly off the handle and we get on really well.
“We also have a lot in common. For example we both enjoy reading. She read a lot of detective novels and woman’s books and I would read more factual and history books.”
Susie Owen, activities coordinator at Highfield care home at Pendine Park, said: “Bill and Mary are lovely, and I’d like to congratulate them on their 60th wedding anniversary. Bill comes in to see her every day, and if anyone deserves a telegram from the Queen they do.
Bill added: “I wasn’t sure what to do so Susie helped me with the application for the telegram. I sent off for it and got a reply saying that it would arrive on the anniversary.
“I think Pendine Park is very good, and Mary being here gives me peace of mind because I know that she is in good hands.
“The staff are caring. They can’t help you enough and are always asking how you are and if you want a cup of tea. I couldn’t praise them more highly.
Bill and Mary married in 1955 when Dreamboat by Alma Cogan was the number one song in the UK charts, and Anthony Eden was Prime Minister.
Bill said: “On the wedding day my brother Norman was meant to be best man, but there was trouble on the road, so in the end Mary’s cousin Dudley stepped in to do it. We just got on with it.”
The couple have two daughters, Karen, and Amanda, as well as three grandchildren, Andrew, Hannah, and Iwan.
Bill, who is originally from the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, was introduced to Mary through her cousin Dudley whom he met in Benghazi, Libya, in 1950 when he was working as a craftsman for the UK Armed Forces as part of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
The couple started to exchange letters, and he began to visit her in Rhos on his motorbike after he left the Army.
Bill said: “You could say that Dudley was a matchmaker. Mary and I would just write to each other about normal everyday things. We lived quite a distance from each other to begin with so I would drive down on my motorbike to see her.
“I visited her family who were very friendly. She was one of nine siblings so it was a big family.
“On our first date we went to a café, and then I took her for a ride on my motorbike.
“We hit it off straight away. I love everything about her – her looks and her personality. She was quiet but she definitely knew her own mind.”
