A couple who fell in love as teenagers will become one of Britain’s longest married couples when they celebrate 80 years of marriage this summer.
Roy and Freda Ward, who are both 98, met at the age of 17 when they both worked at the Dorchester Cinema in Hull. Freda was an usherette and Roy was second projectionist and was also responsible for changing the batteries in the usherettes’ torches.
Speaking from the couple’s home in Bilton, Roy told the Stray Ferret:
“I always made sure Freda had the brightest torch!”
Freda said:
“We would always try to get the same day off, and when we did, Roy would take me for a fish-and-chip supper. It was lovely.”
A year after meeting, they planned a June wedding, but the Register Office was bombed, so they had to wait three days, before finally tying the knot on July 1, 1943.
Even when called up to the Royal Navy, Roy carried on as a projectionist with the Entertainments National Service Association, showing films at military bases throughout England. Following demobilisation, he took up plumbing, but carried on working as a projectionist in the evenings.
The couple owned shops in South Cave and Ferriby, Hull for years, before eventually moving to Harrogate in the 1980s, where they opened a greengrocer’s and delicatessen, RP & F Ward, on Skipton Road.
Following retirement, they have kept busy; Freda was going to the local gym until she was 95, and still exercises on her rowing machine, and Roy, a keen chef and bread-baker, only stopped driving last month.
The couple, who plan to celebrate their oak wedding anniversary with family, have three children, Michael, Roger, and Lesley – now all in their 70s – as well as three grandchildren and a great-grandson.
Asked what the secret to a long and happy marriage was, Roy said:
“I’ve no idea – I can’t put my finger on it. But we’re happy, so whatever it is, it must work!”
Freda was more certain. She said:
“We just love each other. We get on wonderfully well, and we never quarrel. We always discuss things first before doing them, so that we know we’re both happy with it. It just works. We’re very happy.”
The Wards are thought to be Harrogate’s longest-married couple since Starbeck couple Ron and Beryl Golightly celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary in February 2021.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average marriage is expected to last for 32 years. Just 16% of marriages reach their 60th wedding anniversary; the figure for the 80th anniversary, although not provided by the ONS, will be far smaller.
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