She was from Pembroke. He was from St. David?s. Neither knew the other until they met at a dance in Warwick in 1933, but it didn?t take long for each of them to realise that the other was special, and one year later they sealed their love before the altar of St. John?s Church in Pembroke. ?I thought he was the nicest boy I had ever met,? Lilian Minors says. ?That?s why I married him.?

?She was so nice to me I couldn?t leave her,? her husband Archie says.

Those initial impressions have never changed, and last week the devoted couple rejoiced in 70 incredible years of wedded bliss ? a remarkable achievement in today?s world, where so many marriages don?t outlast the family car.

The couple first set up home in Warwick, with furniture purchased on credit. Mr. Minors, a printer who had learned his trade at the Hamilton Press was working at the Elbow Beach hotel while his young bride was the cook at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club in Hamilton. They travelled everywhere by bicycle.

Later, Mrs. Minors moved on to cook for the US Consul-General in Fairylands, who was so impressed with her expertise that he asked her to live in.

As a married woman she declined, whereupon the Consul offered accommodation to them both ? a move the couple happily accepted because they saw it as an opportunity to save for a higher goal. In segregated Bermuda, Mr. Minors? interest in learning to become a linotype operator appeared to be stymied, so he and his wife took their savings to New York, where he studied at a Brooklyn linotype school, and she took a course in beauty culture.

In due course both graduated, he as a qualified linotype printer, and she as a beauty culture teacher.

Returning home in 1939, Mrs. Minors added a beauty parlour to their Warwick home, but when she wanted to expand the operation to include teaching, the Wartime Supplies Commission deemed the requisite supplies an ?unnecessary? import under restrictions related to the Second World War, so the venture was crippled. Meanwhile, her husband was employed as a linotype operator at the Mid-Ocean News. After the war, when an opportunity arose to buy the St. George?s Press, Mr. Minors became a self-employed businessman.

A further opportunity arose in 1946 to buy a house near the water in Wellington, St. George?s, whose potential Mrs. Minors saw as a guest house for visitors of colour; thus the first ?Archlyn Villa? became reality.

?What gave me the idea was that, during our time in New York we met a lot of people who said they wanted to come to Bermuda, but because coloured people were not allowed to stay in the hotels and guest houses we knew there was no place they could stay, so that is how I became the owner-operator of Bermuda?s first guest house for coloured people,? Mrs. Minors says. (She does not like the word ?black?).

Thus was set a pattern that would continue for all of the couple?s working lives. ?Printing was his baby, and running a guest house was mine,? is how Mrs. Minors sums it up.

?Archlyn Villa? blossomed into a commercial success, with its proprietor going all-out to please her guests with wonderful meals, special sightseeing tours, beach parties and more.

By now the owner of one of the first cars in Bermuda, the pretty young woman became such a familiar sight driving her guests to various attractions that a taxi driver joked she should obtain an official licence.

A born businesswoman, Mrs. Minors knew that spoiling her guests was the best word-of-mouth advertising there was ? a dictum that proved wise throughout her entire career.

However, when guests began to fret about the distance from St. George?s to Hamilton, where all the action was, she did not hesitate.

?I said to my husband, ?Archie, we?ve got to move. People are getting disgruntled?,? Mrs. Minors remembers. ?The Imperial Hotel was purchased by coloured people, and I predicted my business would go down as a result, so I went looking and found ?Virginia Manor? in Spanish Point.

?It was close to town and the bus stopped at the door, so we bought it, spent a lot of money on renovations, built on, and moved in in the late 1950s.?

From then on, Mrs. Minors never looked back. Hard work, dedication, and good business instincts ensured that her guests returned again and again, and through word of mouth kept the place filled to such an extent that the couple eventually bought the cottage next door to accommodate the overflow.

Because Bermuda was still segregated, initially her guests were all people of colour, and she recalls that when white passengers from diverted flights were sent to hotels, those of colour were sent to her.

Other dark-skinned guests, who were used to staying in fine hotels, were puzzled as to why their travel agents had placed them in her guest house, even though they loved it and had a wonderful time.

To Mrs. Minors, they were all potential repeats, so she explained Bermuda?s policy and went out of her way to ensure that, despite segregation, everyone who stayed there was treated royally.

Sure enough, one honeymooning millionaire and his wife, used to five-star hotels, returned a quarter of a century later to celebrate their anniversary.

The list of the proprietor?s special touches, paid for out of her own pocket, was endless, but included hiring singer Cecil Darrell to serenade a honeymoon couple in the moonlit garden; making a special ?bride?s cake? for another guest celebrating a 25th wedding anniversary; and even flying to New York to buy a fountain for a special retirement party for a nurse and her friends from the US, and filling it with champagne.

Mrs. Minors cooked wonderful meals twice a day, with lunches on request, and took one night off to have fun with her guests in a nightclub to which she took them.

Slide shows of Bermuda and Sunday night buffets also became regular features. She also incorporated a gift shop into the guest house.

?When things were quiet other people could never understand how I was always full, and I never told them, but my motto was, ?Please your guests and you?ll be surprised?. I never had to advertise anywhere,? Mrs. Minors says.

With success came the hiring of more staff, and the busy proprietor also kept up with developments in the hospitality trade by attending conventions.

With other people of colour getting into the accommodation business, they decided to form an association, which in turn led to the Trade Development Board (forerunner of the Department of Tourism) incorporating the businesses into their brochures.

With desegregation Mrs. Minors soon hosted guests of both races and from all walks of life, including African diplomats, singer Patti LaBelle, Cindy Birdsong, Roland Hayes, actor Jimmy Edwards, and Gladys Knight ( ?But no Pips?, Mrs. Minors laughs.)

Meanwhile, with ?Archlyn Villa? flourishing in Spanish Point, Mr. Minors moved the St. George?s Press to Hamilton and renamed it Ace Printers. He was as busy as his wife, and also worked long hours in his own thriving business.

With success came the ability to travel, which the couple did extensively, visiting many, many countries in Europe as the years rolled by.

They were also active in community organisations. Mrs. Minors was among the initial members of Keep Bermuda Beautiful, and has been a member of the Committee of 25 for Handicapped Children for many years.

They were both members of the Socratic Society, where Mr. Minors? love of writing poetry made him a star. The couple have been active members and regular worshippers of Christ Church, Warwick since the early days of their marriage.

?Our faith is very important to us,? Mrs. Minors says.

She received the Queen?s Certificate and Badge of Honour in 1980, and has also been recognised by the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs as a floral arranger.

When the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh came to Bermuda at the start of her post-Coronation Commonwealth tour, Mrs. Minors was the only person of colour among a group of hoteliers and guest house owners to be presented to the Royal couple.

When illness finally forced her to sell ?Archlyn Villa?, the couple moved into the gracious Shelley Bay home they had long before purchased for their retirement, where they remain today, as close and loving as they ever were.

Like many couples, Mrs. Minors admits she is far chattier than her soft-spoken husband, and laughs as she recalls an occasion when she urged him to talk more to her.

?Someone?s got to do the listening,? was his defence.

They both agree that the secret of their successful 70-year marriage is never going to bed angry with one another. Even now they laugh when Mrs. Minors recalls the lone occasion when they did retire in stony silence.

?I put my arms around my husband and then pulled away quickly saying, ?Oh, I forgot I was mad?. We both laughed and laughed. How silly can you get? We never argued after that,? Mrs. Minors says.

On this occasion at least, the last word goes to Mr. Minors. When asked what advice he would give to young people contemplating matrimony, he responds: ?Unless you meet the right person, and the right person is kind and nice to you, don?t get married.?