Wedding albums capture the happiest day of a couple’s life. But what happens when those pictures are lost? Wedding album collector Charlotte Sibtain and journalist Cole Moreton uncover the stories behind the photographs and try to reunite them with the family.

This time, from a box of ephemera, they uncover the moving love story of Thelma, a young woman who fell in love with Tony, a dashing Royal Marine. She saved his letters, a lock of his hair, the programmes from the plays they went to see and more. Her scrapbooks show a developing love affair, from the edge of childhood into adulthood. There’s an engagement notice and excitement about the wedding to come.

Then, instead of a wedding album, there is a sombre black-bound album with newspaper reports about the Royal Marines Commando Display at Madison Square Garden of the summer of 1960. Tony would abseil from a great height every night, dressed in a City gent’s outfit, holding an umbrella. On 1st July he fell to his death. The tragedy made headlines.

In an emotional journey, Charlotte and Cole find out what happened to Thelma and the wedding that never was, and the lasting impact on Tony’s family.

A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4 Show less