A couple recreated their classic wedding photo from 65 years ago, where they waved at a passing train, a gesture the bride used to make every day as a little girl.
George Stone and Margaret Stone celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on September 5, continuing a tradition they started decades ago.
Margaret and her sister, Janet, used to wave at trains passing by their garden during their childhood, with the train drivers often kindly responding to their greetings. The steam train from London to Penzance would rumble past their home in Wiltshire, Southwest England, and Margaret would spend hours waving at them.
Even on their wedding day on September 5, 1959, Margaret and her new husband George didn’t miss waving at a passing train near their family farm in Easterton, near Devizes. Margaret and her sister even made a wedding cake to share with 300 staff of the Great Western Railway in the West of England.
This year marked the 65th anniversary of George and Margaret’s marriage, and the couple recreated the special photo taken on their wedding day.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) gifted the couple a specially made wedding cake in return for Margaret’s kind gesture before her marriage in 1959.
The couple’s eldest daughter, Annette, revealed that waving at passing trains was just one of the endearing things her mother used to do. Margaret would often run to the garden to wave at passing trains as a child, while the drivers would always salute back.
Margaret’s grandfather was a station master at Saltash railway station, and his brother held the same position at Perranwell railway station.
Annette said, “Her mother’s childhood was full of waving at trains. It’s just lovely to see how she built such strong connections with the drivers and firemen. 65 years of marriage is truly worth celebrating.”
The happy couple moved to Cornwall after their marriage. After years of farming and running a bed-and-breakfast, they took over Payne’s Picnic Garden in Carbis Bay and developed it into the Cottage Hotel. Twenty-five years later, they switched to running Beck’s Fish and Chips, a traditional British fast food shop beloved by locals and tourists since 1989.
Dan Panes, head of communications at GWR, said, “The more we learn about this story, the more it captures our hearts. It’s clear Margaret was a train enthusiast in her youth, forging good relationships with train drivers who would whistle back at her. It’s like a scene from ‘The Railway Children’ movie.”
Panes added, “Margaret baking a wedding cake for her railway colleagues was a lovely gesture, so we decided to reciprocate her kindness by commemorating their 65th anniversary.”
This couple currently resides in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, with their six children – Annette, Nicola, Richard, Robert, Sarah, and Rachel – as well as 18 grandchildren, with a great-grandchild on the way next year.