On Thursday, 5th September, Great Western Railway presented a couple from Carbis Bay in Cornwall with a special wedding anniversary cake in return for a kind-hearted gesture they made 65 years ago.

George and Margaret Stone were married on 5 September 1959 and on the eve of her wedding, bride-to-be Margaret helped by her sister Janet made a cake that she shared with 300 colleagues of the Western Region of British Railways.

The cake was a token of thanks for the many hours Margaret had spent waving at steam trains that thundered past her home on the family farm at Easterton near Devizes in Wiltshire.

Even on their wedding day, George and Margaret took time out from their celebrations to wave at the trains from their home.

News of Margaret’s donation of the cake made national and regional newspaper headlines and featured in the Daily Mirror, Bristol Post and Wiltshire Gazette & Herald.

Great Western Railway has seen nostalgic letters from the secretary of the ASLEF branch at Laira in Plymouth and a train driver from Westbury took time out to say thanks.

After their wedding, George and Margaret moved to Cornwall to run a farm and later a B&B.

They then took over Payne’s Picnic Garden in Carbis Bay, which they developed into the highly successful Cottage Hotel.

In 1989 they took over Beck’s Fish and Chips shop which has been popular with locals and tourists alike for over 50 years.

George and Margaret have six children – Annette, Nicola, Richard, Robert, Sarah and Rachel – and 18 grandchildren, with a great-grandchild due to arrive next year.

“This story really has captured our hearts the more we have researched it. Margaret was obviously a real train fanatic as a young girl and built up quite a rapport with the drivers, who would sound the train whistles as they rolled by.

“It’s like something out of The Railway Children. The fact she baked a wedding cake for railway colleagues was a wonderful gesture, so we were determined to mark their 65th wedding anniversary by returning the favour.”

Dan Panes, Great Western Railway Head of External Communications

“The footplate men obviously took a real shine to Margaret and it’s heartwarming to read how she baked them a special replica cake on the eve of her wedding.

Mick Whelan, ASLEF General Secretary

“65 years of marriage is something truly special to celebrate and today’s presentation really has been the icing on the cake for mum and dad.”

Eldest daughter Annette

Steam trains have a special attraction for many people, as in July a couple who live in California returned to the UK to share their wedding anniversary and wedding day memories on the Welsh Highland Railway.