A STAINTON village couple celebrated 60 years of marriage by taking a trip down memory lane.
Frank and Kath Brown tied the knot at St Cuthbert and St Mary’s Church, in Barton, on September 7, 1963.
Six decades later the couple, who have lived in Teesdale for the past 46 years, decided there was no better way to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary last month, than to revisit the church and reminisce about their life together.
Mrs Brown, a retired midwife and district nurse, said: “We met at a cricket match at Castle Howard when I was 16 and Frank was 22.
“I was the scorer for the local cricket team and Frank was from Thornton le Clay, about five miles from the Castle. He was a player from the opposing team. He kept asking for the score.
“I can’t remember how we went on from there, but a friend of his was going out with a friend of mine and they wanted us to go to the pictures together.”
Love blossomed after the trip to York cinema, but much of the courtship was through letters.
She added: “When I met Frank, a whole world opened up for me. I was training to be a nurse at Bart’s in London and Frank was working on the farms.
“Frank used to write some beautiful letters. He was very good at writing them and there was the occasional telephone call, but that was quite expensive back then.
“We got married at Barton church because my parents had moved up from Yorkshire by then.”
Mr Brown joked: “We were married by a Revd Broom and I said we would be off to a clean sweep. He said it wasn’t the first time he had heard that.”
The couple moved to Teesdale, with their daughters Shirley and Susan, in the late 1970s after Mrs Brown was offered a position as a midwife and district nurse.
She said: “It was quite unusual at the time to move for a wife’s job, but Frank was not in work at the time.”
After retiring 22 years ago the couple have enjoyed their passion for travelling, visiting a number of far-flung destinations including Australia, Philippines, New Zealand and South Africa.
Mrs Brown added: “We have had some wonderful holidays together, some of them quite adventurous in some of the things we have done, but we tend to stick closer to home now.”
On their anniversary they took a drive to Barton, visiting the church to relive the memories, heading out to Aldbrough St John where their wedding reception had been held in the village hall. To mark the occasion, they enjoyed a special meal out with family at Runa Farm, near Barnard Castle.
Mr Brown said: “We have been a happy couple. We’ve had a very good life, travelling since we retired and we can’t grumble.”
