Love still in the air for wartime sweethearts celebrating 70th anniversary in Collier Row

It was love at first sight for two wartime sweethearts, whose romance is going strong 70 years after they married.

Dorothy and Samuel Robinson, both 91, are celebrating the rare platinum anniversary this weekend.

When asked the secret to such a long and happy marriage, Dorothy said: “We have had our ups and downs but you get on with it and get over it.

“Family is what keeps you together.”

The couple have lived in the same house in St Johns Road, Collier Row, for 64 years, and have four children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Daughter Kathy Saunders, 51, said her parents “belong together”.

She added: “They were always close – even when they retired they went everywhere together and on holidays abroad.

“Dad looks after mum now because she’s got Parkinson’s disease. He worries about her more than he does himself.”

Dorothy and Samuel met at a dance in Billerickay during the Second World War.

Samuel was stationed as Stock as part of his training to be a Chindit soldier and Dorothy was training to be a nurse.

They married after a whirlwind romance in 1943 but their honeymoon was sadly short-lived as Samuel was posted to Burma with his regiment.

Although the young soldier was Scottish and had lived all of his life near Glasgow with his family, he decided to move to Essex to be with his sweetheart.

When they were reunited after the war, it wasn’t long before their first daughter was born in 1946, followed by two more girls and a boy.

While Samuel worked as a paint sprayer for Ford motors, Dorothy was a nurse in factories.

They have both been enjoying a life of leisure for more than 20 years but Samuel still keeps a regular appointment at nearby pub The Pinewood four days a week.

They will be breaking out the bubbly with all four generations of their family and friends on Sunday at an anniversary party.