Years ago, when I first saw the series Gavin & Stacey, I commented to my husband Pete – ‘that’s just like us!’
I emigrated from Ireland to London in 1988 at the age of 20 and started working at the Finchley branch of an Insurance company. My job involved speaking regularly to the policy servicing team at the Bristol Office and I struck up a friendship with many of them, especially a chap from Somerset called Pete. He was really helpful, friendly, funny and I got excited when he rang or I had a reason to ring that team.
We started communicating outside of work, but this was the late 80s when mobile phones were extremely expensive, huge and you had a battery that looked like a suitcase and very few people had computers, or laptops so our contact was via letters, postcards and phone calls. Early on during our relationship, Pete sent me his last Rolo chocolate in a presentation box via the internal mail which everyone in my office found very ‘sweet!’ It’s hard for younger people to imagine life before mobile phones, texting, or video calls and for those of us who lived through that era – it seems like a lifetime ago. Pete got a landline installed in his flat and I would go to a call box in the street at an agreed time to speak to him or later a call box was installed in the stairwell of the house where my London bedsit was, which made communicating a lot easier.
Our romance blossomed over the months, and we fell in love before we ever met each other face to face. I finally caught a coach to Bristol in 1989 and Pete picked me up from the bus station on his motorbike. We had a great weekend sight-seeing and getting to know each other and it confirmed that our feelings for each other were truly real – love really is blind!
Over the next few months, I regularly caught the coach from London to Bristol for the weekend and Pete rode his motorbike over 120 miles to spend time with me in London.
We discussed the future a lot and we knew that we wanted to be together. We got engaged before I transferred to the Bristol Life branch and I moved from London into Pete’s flat in June 1990.
We started saving up and we got married on 15th of August 1992 and we moved into our first house in 1994 never imagining that we would remain in the same house for 21 years.
Initially, I worked in a different building in Bristol but after a few years we ended up working in the same building and on the same floor. On Saturday overtime, Pete trained me on Policy Servicing, and I trained him on Quotes. People often commented that it was unusual to see a couple who remained professional and worked well together without any drama or issues. The Life Branch did a lot of fancy-dress themed fundraising events which allowed me to practice my sewing skills
We worked at the insurance company until the Life & Pensions section was closed down and we were both made redundant in 2003. A bit of a scary time with both of us out of work at the same time but we both had good redundancy payouts, and I felt confident that we would both find other work which we did for the next 12 years - at different companies this time!
We holidayed in Sennen Cove, Cornwall for 20 years and in 2015 when house prices in Bristol were booming, we decided to ‘retire’ early to Cornwall. I still needed to work, and a friend recommended me to Pete Matthew at Jacksons, and I was very lucky to land a job in Oct 2015. My husband Pete came in to help out with some admin work on a one-month contract in Apr 2018 and over 7 years on he’s still at Jacksons working mornings only as the ‘Data Ninja’. We can often be found sitting side by side in the window seats overlooking the boats bobbing in the beautiful Penzance Harbour with St Michael’s Mount in the distance.
Pete and I have been together for over 35 years, and we celebrated our 33rd Wedding Anniversary on the 15th of August 2025. We’ve had some challenges over the years but now that my health is much more manageable, we can go places and do things. To this end, we’ve just had a great week off work with a few meals out, we saw a fantastic performance of The Who’s Tommy at the Minack Theatre, and spent an amazing night with ‘This is Floyd’ – the best Pink Floyd tribute band we’ve ever seen. We’re looking forward to ticking off some items from our bucket list over the coming years including a long awaited trip to Australia.
Retirement is in the offing for both of us but for now the Snadens are very happy working for this amazing Company in beautiful Cornwall.
By Carrie Snaden & Pete Snaden