29/06/2015 - Bristol Couple Who Found Love On Coach Trip Settle In To Married Life
Bristol couple who found love on a Bakers Dolphin coach trip
A couple from Bristol who found love on a Bakers Dolphin coach trip are settling in to married life and looking forward to their 80th birthdays.
Brenda and Jim Taylor who had each been widowed previously first met in August 2012 on the ‘Delightful Derbyshire' tour after each decided to travel alone. The rest is history and the couple are now happily married and planning more trips with the coach operators which first brought them together.
Brenda, 79, who lives with Jim in Frampton Cotterell, said that finding love again has helped her make a new life for herself. She said: "It was only fate which meant I was on the Derbyshire trip in the first place! Bakers Dolphin had unfortunately had to cancel the original trip I had booked with a friend and offered this one as an alternative.
"My friend didn't want to come but I just thought ‘now's the time to do it' so I decided to go alone. Derbyshire was beautiful and on the first day I wanted to have a look at a beauty spot that our driver had recommended. As I began walking down the path I noticed Jim was doing the same thing and so I asked if he wanted to walk together.
"At first he said he'd rather walk alone! But he later came up and apologised for sounding rude - he'd been alone for five years and so had got used to doing his own thing. After that we began talking and at dinner that night he asked if I'd like him to sit with me.
"We discovered we lived just three miles from each other - him in Downend and me in Frampton Cotterell. During the break we got on so well that we decided we'd like to do another trip together and once we got home we began going to the cinema and out for meals - it was lovely.
"Jim proposed on Valentine's Day 2013 on another Bakers Dolphin tour to Durham - we certainly didn't hang around but then again at our age you can't! We married at Staple Hill Methodist Church with my two granddaughters as bridesmaids, two grandsons as ushers and even great-grandsons as page boys.
"Jim and I were both widowed before so it has been fantastic to find love again. You've got to make a life for yourself otherwise you would just curl up and die. My children are dotted all over the place from Cheltenham to Canada so it's lovely to have a companion."
Bakers Dolphin, based in Weston-super-Mare, is the South West's leading coach operator running a whole programme of day tours, concert and theatre trips, short breaks and continental holidays. With pick-up points across the region Bakers Dolphin has become renowned for its reliable service.
Bakers Dolphin Sales and Marketing Director Amanda Harrington said: "Stories like this are just wonderful for us to hear and I am so delighted that we played a part in bringing Brenda and Jim together.
"We pride ourselves on running a really friendly service and many of our customers are regulars who get to know our drivers and hostesses as well as each other on our tours. It's like one big family! Coach tours are a great way to see new things and meet people."
Brenda continued: "We both love our Bakers Dolphin trips - we get picked up from our front door and we don't even touch our suitcases for the whole coach holiday as everything is taken care of for us. The drivers are super and the hotels are always great but the best thing is the value for money.
"We've just got back from a lovely break in Yorkshire and we're looking forward to our next holiday to Scotland in August. We also both have our 80th birthdays coming up so I'm sure we'll be planning something for that too!"