A TREDEGAR couple who were due to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary earlier this month with distant relatives had to cancel the celebrations due to the coronavirus lockdown.
Howard and Barbara Phillips were married on April 8, 1950, and were set to celebrate their landmark with family and friends - but celebrations will now be a much quieter affair due to government advice on social distancing.
Daughter Marianne Phillips said: “Dad is not as mobile as he used to be, so I have been attempting to trace my mother's older sister Kathleen Thomas. We believe she may be in a nursing home in the Shrewsbury area.
“He so wanted to find my aunt and reunite her and mum as, having travelled so much, they lost contact several years ago. I was in the process of this when the virus hit.
“My parents are not aware that we would then have gathered friends and family and took them for a surprise meal at the Tamarind in Tredegar where the owner Badsha Mia is a family friend”.
Mrs Phillips, born in July 1926, is the second of 11 children - including two sets of twins. Mr Phillips, who was born in September 1927, is the middle child of three born, all born in Tredegar.
The couple were married in Slough, shortly after Mr Phillips left the navy. He later worked as a cabinet maker and a physical training officer in the prison service.
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Ms Phillips said: “My parents have two sons and I’m the pain in the butt being the youngest – having been graced with the most loving, stunning and extremely patient parents, who fostered me at nine months old, formally adopting me at five.
“Over the years, they gave a home to many a child that was in need. They have ten grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
“We emigrated to Australia in the early 70s, living in Melbourne. On the gradual decline of my grandparent’s health, we returned in 1978 and dad re-joined the prison service.
“They have always said, when dad retired – which he did almost 40 years ago – that they would return to Tredegar to spend the rest of their days."
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