Celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary last Thursday, October 29, were Judy and StJohn Stimson.

The couple first met on Saundersfoot Beach in August 1934 when Judy was just two-months-old. A meeting neither of them remember!

Judy’s parents had a bungalow at the top of The Glen and StJohn’s parents had ‘accommodation with attendance’ in Bank House in Cambrian Terrace for the month of August. The families became friends and continued to meet regularly until the war came.

After the war, Judy and StJohn met again, now camping at Trevayne Farm in the summer. They kept up their friendship whilst they completed their studies; StJohn as an architect and Judy at Leicester University and then as a secretary.

Their friendship grew into love and in 1955 they decided to marry and after the wedding in October they had a brief honeymoon.

As they had only just started in their first jobs, they had no holiday due. StJohn managed to get Saturday morning off work and the honeymoon was a night in London, which ended early on Sunday morning as they had run out of money!

As with many professionals, they moved to different jobs and their two children Melinda and Rowland were both born in Portsmouth, where StJohn lectured in architecture for six years. The only fixture in their calendar was August in Pembrokeshire. In 1969, on the basis of a small legacy, they bought a cottage near Templeton which they kept until 1984 when StJohn took early retirement and they moved to Westgate Hill, Pembroke, to open their Museum of the Home. The museum showed their collection of historic domestic equipment, children’s toys and games and folk art all bought, inherited and saved from the tip over their married lifetime.

The museum took two years to set-up, and then stayed open for 20 years. It was enjoyed by many thousands of visitors over that time. Both Judy and StJohn served as town councillors for a number of years and also worked on the committees of the Civic Society, Forge Promoting Pembroke and the Pembroke Chamber of Trade. In 2012, Judy was given a certificate of commendation by the Pembroke Town Council for her work in fund-raising for local charities.

Age finally caught up and they closed the museum in 2011, donated the bulk of the domestic items to the Picton Castle Trust and moved to the first new build home of their married life.

For StJohn, Pembroke has always been a special place as his ancestor Stephen Perrot came to Pembroke in 1093, with Arnulf de Montgomery. Stephen settled in the town he helped build, marrying the granddaughter of Hywel Dda, Eleanor ap Rhys. StJohn still keeps Perrot as his middle name.