Bill and Clara celebrate 50 years

It's 50 years since they married at St Mary Magdalene's church, and Clara was the Italian bride who came to live in England.

She was born in Santa Gennaro, near Casino, and was one of eight children. The family was evacuated during the war and moved from place to place, then at 16 Clara worked as a nanny in Rome.

Afterwards she came to stay with her uncle in Bexhill, who had the Capaldi restaurant in Western Road as well as the Criterion, and the cafe on the Marina opposite the De La Warr Pavilion.

Bill caught sight of her serving coffee one day and was smitten from the start.

"I saw her there and asked my mate who she was - he had been in before and seen her. He told me she was Italian. I fancied her. I knew she was engaged but that didn't make any difference."

"I waited until she was free, but we were in and out of the cafe a lot. It was the dearest cup of coffee I have ever bought."

Bill was born in Bexhill and lived at Glyne Gap, then at 15 left school to work for Fryo, a soft drinks manufacturer on Western Road. He volunteered two years later and went into the Queen Bays, a tank regiment, and was based in Germany, Egypt and Jordan.

He was just 22 when he met Clara, and recently out of the army, working as a lorry driver for local coal company Bartholomew's.

They went on to marry and lived in a flat in Eversley Road, before moving to Arthur Road where they brought up their three children. They stayed 24 years, then in 1982 moved to College Road where they still live, Bill having retired from his job as a milkman for Unigate in his mid-50's, due to ill-health.

Clara, now 80, didn't speak English when she first came to Bexhill, and learned by asking the name of everything around her. She also found English food hard to get used to, and still enjoys cooking the Italian food which Bill, 72, loves to eat.

The couple hope to celebrate with their family next week - they have two sons, Peter and Alan, and a daughter, Marisa, who has two children, Jake and Imogen.

Looking back on their time together, Bill said: "We get on, and love each other, that's it."