GREAT-grandparents whose romance started with a cycle trip to a village dance have celebrated 70 years of marriage.

Vera and Les Parker of Warham Road in Dovercourt have marked their platinum wedding anniversary with a family holiday.

Vera, 89, said she met husband Les as he was a friend of her brother, and the pair got engaged while he was serving with the RAF.

Vera then became an Easter bride when they tied the knot at All Saints Church in Great Oakley on Easter Saturday 1949.

She said: “I was 19 and Les was 22.

“I was born in the village and baptised at the church and Les moved here from Hertfordshire when he was 13.

“He was friends with my brother.

“We were at school together but he was three years older than me.

“He joined the air force when he was 19 and we courted.

“We went to a dance together at the village hall in Wix - we cycled there - and it carried on from there.

“When he came out of the air force we married.

“We were married by the late Canon Phillip Palmer, it was a big white wedding.”

Les, known as Nipper to his friends and family when he lived in Great Oakley, worked at Vaccumatic in Dovercourt for 30 years and Vera worked at Essex Stores in Great Oakley for 15 years.

The pair went on to have two children, Julie and Kevin, and are now great grandparents.

The lovebirds have renewed their wedding vows three times, recommitting their devotion to each other at their golden anniversary, diamond and now for their platinum; each time at the same church they said their first “I do’s”.

They say it is their close friendship that has helped them make it through the years as a married couple.

Vera added: “We’ve been very lucky health wise, we’ve had good times and bad, happy times and sad, ups and downs.

“But we’ve always managed to stick together. We are nearly always together and we’ve always been good friends and soulmates.

“You’ve got to talk things over and do things together, don’t keep secrets, be open, that’s how I look at it.”