Keen travellers are ‘still laughing’ as they celebrate 70 years of marriage

Audrey, 91, and Charles Coombs, 92, celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on March 22, with a meal at the Nest Pub in Petersfield, alongside their son Andrew and daughter-in-law Jean.

‘It was quiet but lovely, we had a bit of a lunch on the day and a party on Sunday too - it was nice,’ says Audrey.

The couple marked the occasion with not one, but two celebrations with their nearest and dearest, but they insist they’re relationship feels no different to 70 years ago.

‘I don’t feel any different, we’ve got grey hair and we can't get about like we used to, but we’re with it,’ says Audrey.

‘We’re lucky, very lucky.’

The couple have two sons David, who has lived in Spain for the past 18 years, and Andrew, from Southsea, who saw his parents on the day and organised the plans.

‘We’ve always enjoyed ourselves, it's no good being miserable, we always see the funny side of life, always laughing,’ says Audrey.

The pair first met in the bakery where Charles worked in West Liss and were married two years later at the ages of 21 and 22.

‘We met and that was it. He’s just been good to me, we’re partners and do everything together, we like the same things,’ says former office-worker Audrey.

‘She’s looked after me for more than 70 years, and always cooked me dinner,’ adds Charles.

They were married in 1952 at Rogate Church, Petersfield, just a short walk away from their house.

‘We lived opposite the church, so I walked over to get married and my father gave me away,’ says Audrey.

Audrey and Charles, who were engaged a year after they met, say in their day it was uncommon to celebrate ‘like you do now,’ particularly going abroad for a honeymoon, they spent their own in Hove, Brighton.

‘The day we got married was a beautiful warm sunny day, then a week later when we came back from our honeymoon, it was thick snow,’ says Audrey.

‘The weather was different those days to what it is now,’ she adds.

Son Andrew also organised for the arrival of a letter from the Queen on the day of his parents' platinum anniversary, which they say was a ‘lovely surprise’.

In their younger years, the couple were avid travellers and often toured Europe via coach trips or by car.

Audrey said: ‘We used to go on coach holidays to Switzerland, Austria, Germany and we drove over Scotland. We just love Scotland - we used to walk a lot, it’s a beautiful country.’

Despite their love for travel, the couple never saw home anywhere other than Petersfield.

‘We can say that we’ve lived in Petersfield all our lives really, although we love going on holidays, we were always happy to come back home,’ says Audrey.

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