FORMER teachers Reg and Jean Edwards celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary on Tuesday (January 24).

Mr Edwards was head of Lydney Boys’ School and then taught at Whitecross School and Mrs Edwards was a teacher at Primrose Hill primary school.

The couple, who have four children, 11grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, were joined by family members for a celebration at The Swan Hotel in Lydney on Sunday (January 22).

They first met when Reg called to see Jean’s brother at her home in Darlington – a visit which ended in a pillow fight.

Over the next few years they would see each other occasionally on the trolley bus going to school or when Jean was going to hockey matches or Reg was going to play rugby.

The couple retained their interest in sport – Mrs Edwards was president of Lydney Bowls Club and her husband played cricket for Primrose Hill.

Their wedding day on January 24 1953 made history – with Mr Edwards in his RAF uniform – as it was the first in the 120-year history of Houghton-le-Skerne Methodist Chapel in County Durham.

After working in Leicester and Thetford in Norfolk – where Mr Edwards’ job as head of maths came with an allocated council house – the couple moved into their new home in Lydney on New Year’s Eve 1965.

Mrs Edwards was initially a supply teacher but when a permanent job came up at Primrose Hill School, the headteacher decided there was no need to advertise and offered her the job instead.

Mrs Edwards said: “I loved Primrose Hill and I didn’t want to leave. Reg was very happy at the Boys’ School.”

Mr Edwards retired in 1984 and Mrs Edwards said goodbye to Primrose Hill two years later.