Tony and Pat Davies were among the thousands of newlyweds who came to the ‘Honeymoon Island’, as Jersey was known throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and they recently returned for a week to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.
But it was not the first trip back to Jersey for the couple, who have become regular visitors to the Island – sometimes visiting up to four times a year.
Mr Davies (71) said: ‘It was an amazing place to come for a honeymoon and we really fell in love with Jersey. We started coming back once a year at first to celebrate our anniversary, then twice a year and ever since our children grew up we have come back three to four times a year. For us, this Island is literally heaven on earth.’
The couple first landed in Jersey on 30 March 1968 and were welcomed by a local film crew who were filming all the arriving honeymooners at the time. They stayed at L’Hermitage Hotel for a week and were among the large number of honeymooners given a special Jersey Pottery plaque showing the Island to commemorate their visit. Mr Davies said: ‘The total cost of the honeymoon was just £29, which is hard to believe now, but my weekly salary was £19 at the time, so it was a sizeable amount of money.’
Now based in Eastbourne in the UK, the couple still come to Jersey every year to celebrate their anniversary.
Mrs Davies (70) added: ‘We both love walking and I don’t know where else you can find such beautiful scenery and coastlines so close to home.’
The pair first met when Mrs Davies – then Miss Twort – started working at the age of 15 as a typist and a switchboard operator at a garage where Mr Davies was working as an apprentice.
Conscious that they were colleagues, they say that love didn’t blossom straight away, despite an initial attraction. But their co-workers soon acted as matchmakers and arranged a date for the pair to see Elvis Presley in the film Blue Hawaii at their local cinema.
The couple, who have three children – Steven (47), Alison (45) and Christopher (41) – agree that the Island has gone through massive changes since their first visit and said there was a lot less for tourists to do nowadays.
Mrs Davies said: ‘There used to be so much to do and it was a lot more fun when we first came over. But we still love coming here.’
