Lovebirds revisit Slimbridge after 40 years

John and Gwyneth celebrating 40 years of marraige at Slimbridge
John and Gwyneth celebrating 40 years of marraige at Slimbridge

A couple celebrating their ruby wedding anniversary visited WWT Slimbridge last week 40 years after their honeymoon visit.

John and Gwyneth James came here the day after their wedding on 11th September 1973. They were married at Coleshill, in Warwickshire and then spent the first night of their honeymoon at The Close Hotel in Tetbury which they also revisited as part of their celebration last week.

Emily, their daughter wrote to us to let us know about their special trip and said: “This anniversary means a great deal to them, and they could not think of a better way to celebrate four decades as man and wife than revisiting Slimbridge as they have such fond memories of their first day as a married couple with you.

“They are now 68 and 66, but they are very excited. I thought you might enjoy hearing about the special significance that Slimbridge has - apologies in advance if tomorrow you see some elderly love birds hand in hand grinning like newlyweds!”

Gwyneth on her trip 40 years ago
Gwyneth on her trip 40 years ago

On the day of their visit John and Gwyneth were looking forward to seeing all the changes to the site since their visit and were particularly keen to see the bright flocks of flamingos.

After his visit John said: “We had a lovely time, and our visit brought back many happy memories of our honeymoon trip to Slimbridge exactly 40 years ago. We still adore the flamingos.”

Following their trip to the Cotswolds the John and Gwyneth headed off to Marbella to complete their tour of honeymoon spots.

Do you have any special memories connected with WWT Slimbridge. Share your stories with us by emailing sally.munro@wwt.org.uk

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