CHINGFORD: Couple celebrate 70 years of happy marriage

Alfred and Amy Bird, of Brook Crescent, Chingford, received their third card from the Queen to mark their Platinum wedding anniversary earlier this month.

Their love has endured trials and tribulations along the way, including their separation during the war and illness in later life.

Alfred, who also celebrated his 90th birthday last week, said they key to their lasting relationship was love.

“We just love one other, that's it,” he said. “We've had a good life and our children have all been very good.”

Amy added: “He's my number one man. I would marry him again tomorrow.”

The pair first knew each other as teenagers, when they both lived in Hackney and can remember the first few times they met.

Alfred said he had been riding his bike one day and saw his wife-to-be crossing the road and they spoke to each other.

Amy remembered another occasion, when they shared a train carriage. She said: “I looked at him and thought, 'he's not bad' – I liked him.

“But I made him sit at the opposite end of the carriage from me.”

Their blossoming romance was cut short when, in May 1940, Alfred was called up to join the army and fight in World War Two.

They had to apply for a special licence so he could stay at home a day longer and they could get married.

On May 11, 1940, they had a small wedding at Hackney Registry Office and posed for their wedding photo in front of the sandbags piled high outside.

Mrs Bird said: “I'm still sorry I never got to have a big white wedding. We've made sure all our children have had big weddings to make up for it.”

During the war, Alfred was based in Cromer, Norfolk before being deployed to fight abroad, where he was seriously injured in a shell attack.

As the war went on, Amy was evacuated to Bushey, in Hertforshire with their two daughters Linda and June and her mother.

But the devoted pair didn't let the fighting or the distance stand in the way of their love.

Alfred was demoted from a corporal to a private after being discovered sneaking out of the barracks overnight to see Amy.

And a determined Amy, eager to show Alfred their new baby after the birth of their second daughter, travelled up to Cromer.

She said: “I caught the train up and went to see him. His sergeant said 'You mustn't fetch a baby up here – it is too dangerous.”

After the end of the war, they had two more children – Jacqueline and Malcolm - and Alfred worked for the London Electricity Board, before becoming a self-employed electrician.

The couple have been devoted to their family and have fond memories of seaside holidays at Ramsgate and touring Britain in their caravan.

They moved to their current home 17 years ago and have travelled abroad in their later years, regularly going to see daughter Jacqueline in Cyprus.

As well as their four children, they have 12 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, 1 great, great-grandchild and another on the way.

The whole family gathered from as far afield as New York for a celebration in Folkestone at the weekend.

Daugher Linda Pye, who lives in the same street as her parents, said: “Their family is their life.

“They have been a brilliant mum and dad to all their children and their grandchildren.

“To get to 70 years together is an amazing achievement and I am very proud of them.”

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