AFTER a wartime wedding, a Malvern couple will soon be celebrating 65 happy years of marriage.

Donald and Margaret Tomlin, of Handbury Road, moved to the town in 1942, when Mr Tomlin's employer, the Air Defence Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), moved to North Site. The nature of Mr Tomlin's job meant they were not told where they were going before they moved.

"We knew it was within a certain number of miles of Birmingham, so we got a map out, circled the area and guessed it was probably Malvern," said Mr Tomlin. "We've been happy here since and we both feel recognised as Malvernians now."

The couple were born two months apart in Sheffield and met as teenagers, when Mrs Tomlin made the then unusual choice to study science and had to use facilities at the local boys' school. Both went to Sheffield University, where they became closer.

"We started to go out walking or cycling at the weekends, and it all blossomed from there," said Mr Tomlin.

They were engaged in 1941 and married on December 20 that year in a low-key register office ceremony, to avoid any unnecessary expense during the war.

After arriving in Malvern, Mrs Tomlin also worked for the ADRDE, a forerunner of QinetiQ, before teaching at the now defunct Douglas House School on Priory Road.

Their long-lasting marriage keeps up a family tradition, as Mr Tomlin's parents, Bernard and Alice, were only three months short of celebrating 70 years when one of his parents died.

The couple will celebrate with friends and neighbours, and enjoy a meal with their daughter Eileen, also from Malvern. Mr Tomlin said having shared interests had helped their marriage thrive for so long.

They both take great interest in maps and are members of the Malvern Family History Society.

"We are both very thankful for surviving together and all the good times we've had," he said.