FORMER Colwall couple Ted and Violet Emery reached a rare milestone as they celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary.

Ted and Violet celebrated their 70 years of marriage at a nursing home in Shropshire where they moved two months ago, after living in Colwall for 30 years.

The couple met and married during the Second World War with a wartime wedding in 1941when they were both serving as naval officers. It was not easy time for newly weds.

“We met up whenever we were off duty and then went our separate ways when we had to return to our posts,” explained Ted, who was 90 this year.

“It was difficult but we just got on with it really.”

Ted’s wartime naval service included working on the Atlantic convoys on minesweepers and later on the Russian convoys.

After the war Ted worked as a civil engineer, working on large road and motorway projects. He remained a member of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve for many years. The couple lived in Kent and had two children. They moved to Colwall after Ted retired in 1979.

The couple are well-known in the village and the surrounding local area, particularly Ted, who worked as a volunteer in the ticket office at Ledbury Station and was the Colwall ‘man to consult’ regarding train times and local journeys.

“Local people used to regularly ring him at home to sort out their proposed journeys for them,” said Mary Emery, his daughter-in-law.

The couple celebrated their 70 years of marriage with a party for close family members at Stretton Hall nursing home and received a telegram from the Queen.