They were teenage sweethearts and hadn’t seen each other for 50 years until the stars aligned and they were back in each others arms, this time for good.

After a whirlwind fairytale romance Allison Howlett (nee Hunt) and Paul Woods were married in Cooke Park on October 21.

“It was meant to be,” Paul said.

They met in Camden in 1966. Allison was in her mid teens and Paul his late teens

Allison grew up on a farm in Menangle and Paul in Padstow.

“We met through my brother Lindsay,” Allison said.

“He was a fitter and machinist and Paul was a boilermaker. They did their apprenticeships together.

“I was in Camden at that stage doing my secondary education.

“Paul had been out at our farm with Lindsay and dad working on trucks and doing boys stuff for ages before I met him.”

They were together for six months before they went their separate ways.

Allison’s family had kept in contact with Paul over the years.   

“I’d always ask after him,” she said.

“How was he, was he happy, what was he doing over the years?

“Just last year I asked an uncle how he was and what was he doing.

Allison’s uncle suggested she stay an extra night and they invite Paul out for dinner.

“I said no no no I’m not going to do that,” she said.

“If Paul and I were to meet and we did like each other, then that would be ok but I wasn’t going to go looking for him.

“I really wasn’t looking for anybody.”

On April 5 this year Allison got up at 4am to drive to Camden for the funeral of a very dear family friend and ran into Paul.

“I didn’t see him at the service or at the cemetery,” she said.

“I was sitting on my own at the wake while my friends were off getting coffee and this guy walked up in front of me and smiled and I smiled and waved.

“He asked if I remembered him,” she said.

“I said ‘no I’m sorry I don’t’ and he said ‘I’m Paul Woods’.

“So I jumped up off the lounge and gave him a hug and a kiss.

“He sat down and chatted with me for a while and within two or so weeks he was in Parkes.

Paul, who had been running his own engineering company for 30 years, had retired just three days before he met Allison at the funeral.

After asking her father for Allison’s hand in marriage, Paul proposed to her in front of 200 people at her parents, Robin and Norma Hunt’s 70th wedding anniversary function at the RSL in Dubbo on May 10.

“He asked dad first for my hand in marriage,” Allison said.

“He said yes, my parents are very excited.

“Dad actually wanted us to get married at their anniversary celebrations!”

Robin, who turns 93 in December, walked Allison down the aisle at her wedding and happily gave her away to Paul.

Guests travelled from as far away as Canada for the occasion.

They are currently honeymooning on the Gold Coast with six other couples.

“Next year we plan on buying a caravan, driving off into the sunset and living happily ever after,” they said.