Rhuddlan couple say secret to their 70-year-long and happy marriage is prioritising family life and working hard to 'love and support each other'

Basil, 95, and Barbara Pierce, 92, marked 70 years of wedding bliss - alongside their close family - on September 23.

The parents, affectionately known as to Ma and Pa by their son and daughter Philip and Janet, enjoyed a cake featuring edible photographs from their wedding and received a number of cards and greetings, including a bouquet and card from councillor Meirick Lloyd Davies, chairman of Denbighshire County Council.

Basil and Barbara, who have four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, say the secret of their long and happy marriage is prioritising family life and working hard to ‘love and support each other’ in their work and in their shared love of family.

The couple married in 1950 in Prestatyn Parish Church after meeting at the Police Ball in the Lido, Prestatyn.

For many years they ran successful businesses in Rhyl including Louise Millinery and Fashion in Russell Road.

Basil and Barbara on their wedding day. The couple married in Prestatyn Parish Church

Son Philip said: “They are delighted to have reached this milestone and consider themselves really fortunate and grateful to have done so.

“My father was brought up in Rhyl and then attended Denbigh County School as the family moved to Denbigh. He served four years in the army in the Far East during the war, returning home to be demobbed in 1947.

“My mother was born in Liverpool and attended Holly Lodge school before the family were bombed out of Liverpool in 1939, relocating to Prestatyn where they were initially taken in by a local family before buying a house in Linden Walk, Prestatyn.”

Basil and Barbara got engaged on New Year’s Eve 1948.

“Their reception was held at the Victoria Hotel, Prestatyn,” Philip added.

“My mother’s first job was in the Post Office in Rhyl while my father initially worked in the family bakery business in Wellington Road, Rhyl.

“They bought what became Pierce’s in Russell Road, Rhyl in 1951 selling sweets, tobacco and other confectionery, soon adding a bakery to the business where my father kept up the family tradition.

“The transformation to ladies’ fashion took place in the late 1960s as Louise Millinery and Fashion became one of the biggest and most successful millinery shops in North Wales.”

Basil and Barbara

Barbara and Basil, who lived in Rhyl until 1983 and then Rhuddlan, where they still live, also had Card Fayre, Prestatyn, and Owen’s Café in Ruthin for a time.

They retired from business in 1990.

Basil remains a member of Rhuddlan golf club - a club the pair joined in 1949. Basil still remains an active member and can often be seen on his buggy around the course.

The husband and wife also enjoy playing bridge socially and in local clubs.

“Both now enjoy their garden and rides on their buggies on Rhyl promenade and around Rhuddlan,” Philip said.

“Living locally all their married life both in Rhyl, and latterly in Rhuddlan where they moved in 1983, they are very well known in the community.

“They enjoy sharing time with friends and family, currently in socially-distanced settings, a favourite pastime is putting the world to rights and sharing the wisdom of their extensive life experiences.

“Both myself, Jan, and the rest of the family are very proud of mum and dad and we are hugely grateful for the love and support they have been shown over the years.

“They provide excellent role models as loving parents and are an inspiration to all the family.”