PAUL and Margaret Morgan had plenty to celebrate on Wednesday (June 12).

Not only was it their 70th wedding anniversary, it was also Mrs Morgan’s birthday.

The couple were married at St Mary Margaret Catholic Church in Coleford on June 12 1954 which was also Mrs Morgan’s 21st birthday.

They had met six years before at a dance class at Coleford Town Hall.

“She was the only one who would put up with me treading on her feet,” joked Mr Morgan.

Mrs Morgan said: “We’ve had a lovely marriage, we’ve been happy and we’ve got one daughter and two grandchildren.”

The reception was held at the King’s Head in Coleford and the cake, which had been made by Mr Morgan’s mother and had three tiers.

Mrs Morgan said: “Paul’s initials were on the bottom, mine were in the middle and my 21st birthday cake was on top.”

Mr Morgan was born in Lydbrook and he would often visit relatives in Normandy with his French mother.

A few days before the outbreak of the Second World he was sent home from France because of the worsening situation.

After leaving East Dean Grammar School he trained as a mine surveyor and worked at Waterloo Colliery.

He was employed there when the pit was flooded in 1949, prompting a huge rescue operation, but that day he was on a day release course at Crumlin Technical College near Newport.

After leaving the mining industry in 1964, he joined West Dean Rural District Council as a building inspector.

Three months after joining the council, he was transferred to work on housing project and he designed the Parkside grouped accommodation homes in Coleford.

“That was the first grouped accommodation ever built and I was quite proud of that.”

When the Forest of Dean District Council was created in 1974, he was appointed as Deputy Engineer in charge of services such as refuse collection.

Mrs Morgan worked in the offices of an ironmongers in Coleford and at the cable works in Lydbrook.

She said: “We’ve seen a lot of change in our lifetime.”