A NEWPORT couple are to return to the site of their honeymoon to celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary on Thursday.

Reg Bateman, 93, and Bunny Bateman, 91, got married at St Woolos Church on May 28, 1945 before spending their honeymoon at the Seawood Hotel in Devon.

The couple, of St Julian's, first met on the overnight train from London Paddington in the summer of 1943. Reg, a member of coastal command in the RAF, was being transferred to a new station in Talbenny while Bunny, who was living in London, was on her way to pick potatoes in Pembrokeshire.

When the train stopped in Newport, Reg told his future wife to look after his bag and his “pride and joy", his bike, while he asked a man on the platform to pass on a message to his mother.

It was the first moment in an association that’s spanned more than 70 years and the pair arranged to meet in Little Haven days later before swapping addresses.

Marrying two years later, as the Second World War drew to a close, the couple relocated to Newport. They went on to have two children, Daryth and Colin; five grandchildren; and six great grandchildren.

Mrs Bateman, who is originally from Essex, said: “Reg was very cheerful and honest, and he still is. He just had something – I still don’t know what it is.

“I had never heard of Newport in those days and there were so many Americans here. It was very welcoming.

“So many things were different but I just got into the way of life here. I remember milk still being delivered from the churn, whereas we had bottled milk in London.

“Something invisible has kept us together here and you can’t buy it.”

Mr Bateman added: “Family is very important and we couldn’t do without each other.

“We’ve produced two lovely children and that’s the be all and end all for us.”

As part of their landmark celebrations, the couple will also have a blessing in St Julian’s Baptist Church on Sunday, followed by a family lunch at the Celtic Manor.