A COUPLE from Staple Hill have celebrated a remarkable 70 years of marriage.
John and Anne Amos have lived in the same house since they married at Dyrham Church on April 2 1956, when John was 23 and Anne was 22, followed by a honeymoon in Torquay.
John grew up in Dyrham, and Anne, nee Senior, grew up in Pucklechurch.
They both attended Chipping Sodbury Grammar School, and love blossomed when they were teenagers, following a dance in Pucklechurch in the early 1950s.
When he left school, John started work as a mechanic at Rumsey’s Ford Dealers in Portwall Lane, Bristol, before doing his National Service in the RAF.
After being demobbed, he worked for Bristol Aero Engines, which later became Bristol Siddeley and then Rolls-Royce.
Anne worked in a number of jobs, including for the RAC, before her wedding but had to give up work, as many firms in the 1950s barred women from employment after marriage.
Later she became the catering manager at Page School for Girls in Staple Hill.
John and Anne have two children and two grandchildren.
They celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary with lunch at Chipping Sodbury Golf Club with close family, including their brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren.
Son Chris said: “Dad is one of eight and they are all still going; mum is one of five, of which four are still with us, so there is obviously something in the water in and around Dyrham and Pucklechurch!
“They received a message of congratulations from the King and Queen, which goes with the one they received from the late Queen for their 50th anniversary. There can’t be many people who’ve managed that.”
