FRIENDS and neighbours of Maureen and Barry Phillips surprised the couple, from Ryelands in Bream, with a celebration for their 65th wedding anniversary last month.

They organised lunch, a beautiful celebration cake and singing from Bream school choir. Friends also arranged for the postman to visit earlier than usual, as his delivery included a special congratulations card from the Queen.

Maureen said: “It was really great. We didn’t know it was happening, but knowing this lot as we do we weren’t that surprised. Around 40 or 50 people came along. It was a real team effort, but we know that Ann Payne did a lot of the running around. It was so lovely that they all did this for us.”

Two Rivers finance manager John Watkins brought the couple a filled hamper, from the housing association that runs Ryelands, to add to the ‘blue sapphire’ celebration.

The couple were married in Brecon in 1951 and spent most of their married years in Zimbabwe. Barry is a keen cyclist and used to ride 200-miles in a round trip to see Maureen at weekends. He competed at a high level and was head coach to the then Rhodesian cycling team at the 1980 Olympic Games. Barry, a former RAF engineer, still uses the bike in the Ryelands gym to keep himself in trim.

Maureen trained as an ophthalmic nurse and continued to work in the health sector while they lived abroad. The couple have one son, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren who are all in South Africa.

Maureen added: “We moved to Bream over 12 years ago as my brother lives in Coleford. We’d never even heard of the Forest of Dean before we came here. It’s not quite as sunny as Zimbabwe.”