A COUPLE whose wedding photos first appeared in the Spectator back in 1966 are back on our pages once again, preparing to celebrate their diamond anniversary together.
Bert and Maggie Smith got married on July 30, 1966 – the day England won the World Cup.
They met at a dance in Bangor in 1964, and wed less than two years later, going on to enjoy 60 years of happiness.
The couple, now aged 81 and 82, are looking forward to celebrating their big day with friends tomorrow (Friday) at The Stables in Groomsport.
The get-together follows a family celebration last month, after successfully managing the tricky task of getting their children all together, as they all live in England.
“We met in the Savoy Hotel in Bangor, when we were both 18,” Bert recalls fondly.
“It was at the Bangor Dairies Christmas ball where I had been working. I had come from Belfast to attend it, where I’m originally from.
“Maggie was from Bangor, from the Ballymaconnell Road, and was working in the Sheriff’s Office, as a shorthand typist, when it was in the Crumlin Road court house.”
They met in January 1964 and got married in July 1966 at St Mark’s Church, Dundela, in east Belfast, by which time Bert had joined the army.
After a honeymoon in Scotland, Bert had to leave his new bride behind when he was posted to Yemen, leaving Maggie to stay with her parents.
After an 18 month absence, his life in the army meant Maggie was able to join him as he went to further foreign parts, like Hong Kong, in positions which kept them far from Northern Ireland until the late 1980s.
They started a family during their time abroad, having four children – Julie, who is 59, 58 year-old Paul, Sarah (52), and their youngest, Emma who is 42.
Bert, who plays the guitar and banjo in a charity band, the Roving Micks, said they eventually settled in Bangor, and their children have so far given them seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Married on that famous day in English footballing history, Bert admitted ‘quite a few guests at the wedding were making excuses to get up from the table’, he laughed.
“We were on our way on to Edinburgh and we got a shock when the Scottish pilot comes on and says ‘I’ve got some bad news for you’, which you really don’t want to hear while you’re on a plane,” he recalled.
“So he says ‘I’ve got to inform you that England have just won the World Cup’,” he quipped.
