CELEBRATIONS are in order for two sets of lovebirds who reach 70 years of marriage today.

Kay and Wilf Blackwell, of Cricklade Road, and Joyce and Arthur Duck, of Westlea, are celebrating their platinum wedding anniversaries after tying the knot on April 12, 1941.

A letter of proposal led to marriage for 90-year-olds Kay and Wilf Blackwell.

Wilf proposed to Kay in writing after he was sent to Kent with the Territorial Army in 1939 and there was a possibility he would be sent overseas.

They were in the same commercial classes, where they learnt typing, shorthand and book-keeping, at Swindon College but did not meet until they attended a reunion a year later.

“Without knowing it we were in the same class. We knew the same people but we didn’t know each other,” said Wilf, a retired tool maker.

“We both clicked and that was it, we got on very well. She was very pretty and she still is. We have lasted 70 years and I think it is marvellous.”

Kay and Wilf have two children, Paul 59, and Gillian, 67, as well as five grandchildren and five great- grandchildren.

Wilf said: “It is give and take. If you have an argument don’t take it up to bed. Clear the air before you go to bed.”

Kay, a retired tailoress, remembered when Wilf was away in Kent with the Territorial Army he picked all the tulips and daffodils from the garden and sent them to her in a parcel.

She said: “He looks after me and he makes me laugh. Wilf is kind and he helps me when I’m not very well. We have always enjoyed the same things, we have a lot in common.”

There was a special service to mark their achievement at Haydon Wick United Reformed Church, where they tied the knot, on Sunday.

Joyce and Arthur Duck are also celebrating 70 years together today.

The couple first got together when Joyce was still at school but they had been apart for a few years when Arthur started writing to Joyce in 1940 when he was fighting in the Second World War.

Joyce, 90, a retired packer, said: “I had a letter come through and it was Army posted, it was from Arthur. He wondered if I would write to him because he had no one else to write to. It all stemmed from there and we have been together ever since.”

They have one daughter, Christina, 67, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

“We work hard and care and love one another. We have had our ups and downs but we have ironed them all out and we have got there. I wouldn’t be without him,” she said.

Arthur, 91, a retired postal worker, said: “She is really a lovely woman. I could not have married anybody any better. We have enjoyed life, every minute of it.”

The couple, who tied the knot in Calne, will celebrate with a family meal this evening.