Guess who came to 81-year-old Cecil Bridgwater’s party to mark 60 years of happy marriage to his wife, Eileen?
Herefordshire’s grand old lady, 105-year-old May Bridgwater from Stretton Sugwas was there to see her son’s marriage in St Martin’s Church at Hereford in 1950, and six decades later she was in good form for a party to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary with members of the family last week.
May, who celebrated her remarkable birthday in May, joined the family for a surprise party for her son and daughter-in-law at The Grandstand in Hereford, where ages among guests ranged from 11 right up to 105.
Cecil left school at 14 to start work on the railway in Hereford, and during the war he received messages about freight and ambulance trains arriving in the city. Eventually, the “young lady” on the other end of the line, working at the telephone exchange, introduced him to her friend, Eileen, who worked at a shoe shop in High Town, and at the age of 21 the couple married.
After his Army service, Cecil worked at Rotherwas and then took a job at the Post Office supplies depot in Holmer Road where he remained until he was made redundant at the age of 55.
“Unfortunately, I was the one who turned the key to lock the place up,” he says. He went on to take another job for 10 years and continued working until his 65th birthday.
Picture: Cecil and Eileen Bridgwater show May Bridgwater their Diamond Wedding Anniversary card from the Queen.
Picture by: Andy Compton
