And they said it wouldn’t last!

A Freshwater couple, who were told ‘their marriage wouldn’t last’, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary with a party last Friday (February 24).

Bob, 77, and Andy, 96, Bailey were joined by family and friends for the occasion.

Andy’s first husband was the late Roy Burgess and they had five children together. But after Roy passed away, she met, and married Bob, who became stepfather to the family.

Andy moved to the Island in 1947 and met Roy, whose parents ran the Wheatsheaf pub, Yarmouth. They eventually took over the running of the pub for around 10 years and also ran the former Lanes Inn in Totland. However, after 25 years of marriage, Roy died. She later met Bob at a wedding she was catering for.

Bob spent his early years in various countries, including Malta and Greece as his father was in the Royal Navy, and he later joined the Navy himself, as a submarine engineer. He moved to the Island in 1962 to join his parents, with his father, by now a coastguard at The Needles. He eventually started his own business in property maintenance and window cleaning, something he still does part-time now.

The couple married in 1973, with Bob saying: “People said it wouldn’t last because of the age difference, but Andy is a lovely lady who would do anything for anybody. She is an amazing person and, if someone needs help, she will organise it for them.”

Andy said: “Bob has been a wonderful stepfather to my children; they idolise him and now we have eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren. I’ve been very lucky.”

The children are Stacey, Sarah, Elise, Mark and Neale.

Pictured: Bob and Andy on their wedding day