Beales Hotel in Hatfield is celebrating a 50th anniversary this year – it is five decades since the Beale family bought it in 1964. To mark the occasion a new tree has been planted in the grounds of the hotel by a couple with special links to the hotel. Roy and Brenda Pound, of Brookmans Park, were invited to plant the new tree because of a 50-year connection with Beales Hotels.
Beales Hotels MD Andrew Beale said: “We were discussing our 50th anniversary and how to mark the occasion when I heard that Mr and Mrs Pound had called us to discuss plans for their own 50th wedding anniversary. “They were actually married in the same year at the old Beales Restaurant in Holloway It was too good an opportunity to miss and we invited them to plant a tree for us and have a celebration lunch at the hotel.”
Roy and Wendy Pound doing the tree planting watched by Beales MD, Andrew Beale
The couple were married on April 4, 1964, in the Capri Suite of the Beales Restaurant. After the wedding ceremony their family and friends enjoyed a roast turkey lunch, dancing to a Hawaiian band and the bar bill was just £30.
Roy and Brenda are now retired with three daughters and two granddaughters. Roy said: “It was a fabulous day and we are still very happily married after 50 years. The secret is to choose well and then always agree!”
Roy and Wendy Pound on their wedding day
Beales in Hatfield has undergone extensive development and is one of the few four-star hotels in the county. The new tree is a Giant Redwood grown from seed at the company’s sister hotel West Lodge Park in Hadley Wood, where they have an award winning arboretum. It will grow by about one foot a year and could reach 90 meters in height. “We do hope the tree will thrive and hope to come and see it from time to time and watch its growth,” added Brenda.
Beales Hotels in Hertfordshire’s oldest family businesses and one of our country’s oldest hotel businesses. It has been handed down through the generations since 1769, to current managing director Andrew Beale.
Find out more about the legendary Beales Hotel, Hertfordshire wedding venue.
