Time was scarce and preparations hurried for a young engaged couple in post-war England, with the groom about to be posted overseas with the army.
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“It was a white wedding for the snow, but that was all,” the bride recalled yesterday.
Joyce Bonner, 18, and Roy Streeter, 19, obtained a special licence to marry on February 21, 1948.
“They all said … ‘It would never last, they’re too young’ and here it is now,” Mrs Streeter said.
On Wednesday the Streeters, Howlong residents for 40 years, reach their 70th wedding anniversary.
The major celebration will be on Saturday with their family, which includes three children, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
The Streeters said patience, give and take and varied interests, both common and separate, lay behind a long, successful marriage.
“Everything we’ve done, we’ve done together, we’ve always made up our minds together,” Mr Streeter said.
The pair met when Mr Streeter, then a railways worker, came to lodge near his future wife’s home in Tonbridge.
After two years of national service, Mr Streeter worked on a farm and then turned to bricklaying as the family expanded to include children Christine (Stephens), Sandra (McDowell) and Alan.
A bad winter where frozen mortar stopped work and daily advertisements promoting Australia led the Streeters to become “10 pound Poms” in 1963.
“I remember when we were coming over on the boat and I was sitting out on the deck and thinking, ‘What the bloody hell have you done now?’,” Mr Streeter said.
But after settling into their new life “we never regretted it, never once did we think about returning”.
About 15 years in Melbourne followed, along with a stint running a hardware and gifts shop.
In 1977, Mr Streeter began building the Howlong house that is still their home.
Mrs Streeter visited on weekends at first and the couple lived in a caravan on the front lawn during construction.
Mrs Streeter said they enjoyed the friendly Howlong community. Bowls has been a keen interest, both as players and office bearers.
Their daughter Christine said the family had always been close.
“We never had a lot of money, but we never felt deprived of anything and our parents always put us first,” Mrs Stephens said.
“They made some big sacrifices for us as well; we never say we’re grateful enough, but we are.
“They sit out there together and they talk, you know, they sit and they chat together.
“So after all these years they are still friends, which is really important.”
