On a snowy January Saturday 60 years ago Bedfordian Gwendolyn Taylor serenaded her wedding guests with Nat King Cole’s classic They Try To Tell Us We’re Too Young. This week she and husband Tom sang the same song to friends and family as they celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary and proved they weren’t too old to be in love either!
The couple met at Chatham barracks when Gwen was a Wren and Tom was in the Navy. They were married by special licence at Bedford Registry Office and shared just a few hours of married life before they were separated for nine months as Tom was posted to Malta.
Their recipe for a successful marriage is simple; hard work, telling your spouse you love them every day and having the support and love of the family. Fortunately this is on tap at the Bedford Charity’s Harpur House, on Cardington Road, where Gwen and Tom have lived for fifteen years, as her sister Dorothy is a neighbour. Their daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter all live in the town and visit frequently. Long marriages run in the family; Gwen’s parents also celebrated their diamond wedding and, like Gwen and Tom, received congratulations from the Queen and then went on to notch up an impressive 69 years of married life.
Gwen and Tom are much loved and active members of the Harpur House community, where Gwen is often to be found in the kitchen organising the catering for social events. In fact she spent most of her anniversary morning baking sausage rolls for her many friends, unaware that they had actually planned a fully catered surprise party for her that afternoon!