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Four Middleton couples celebrate golden weddings
Four Middleton couples who first met during childhood are celebrating their golden weddings.
When four couples from Middleton assembled in 1959 for a picture to celebrate their marriages, little could they have known they would still all be together half a century later.
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The couples are Sandra and Barrie Cook, Hilda and Bill Benn, Rita and
Arthur Ramsden and Mavis and Keith Marsh, all from Middleton.
They assembled in impromptu order for the picture and have recreated the shot twice since then.
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They married within a year of each other after being firm friends since their youth.
They assembled again in 1990 and stood in the same pose as the 1959 picture, which was taken at the Astoria dance hall in Leeds. And when they met just a few weeks ago. to mark the first of their golden weddings they once again they adopted their original positions.
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Sandra, 69, who has two children and seven grandchildren, said: "We see each other on and off all the time because we all still live in Leeds."
Rita, 69, and Arthur, 71, will celebrate their golden wedding with on December 26 this year. Rita said: "We got married on Boxing Day because I wanted a white wedding but it never snowed. We all live near each other and have kept in touch over the years. In many ways, we're closer than family. We went to school together and we're still great friends now.
"Marriage is still good after 50 years. We go out every week. I think we had the best era in terms of courtship and romance, at least compared to today."
Rita and Arthur ran two newsagents in Middleton, on Middleton Park Road from 1987-1989 and on Thorpe Street, from 1987-1994. They have two children, two grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.
Mavis, 69, and husband Keith, who turned 70 in April, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on March 26, 2010.
Mavis said: "We've never wanted to move from here and have always been proud of the area. I spoke to my sister-in-law recently, who went travelling to Canada and ended up meeting someone from Leeds. It's a small world."
Mavis, who has three children and two grandchildren, achieved success in 2006 with the publication of Shattered – which featured on the Richard and Judy Show's book section – a story about her son, Matthew, now 38, who had a promising career before him after he gained a doctorate in astrophysics aged 25 but tragically fell into in a coma after falling and hitting his head.
The book, which sold 60,000 copies, tells how doctors told the couple their son would never walk or talk again, but that after a year of hoping and praying, he began to stir from his coma though he still needs care from his parents and suffers short-term memory loss .
Mavis is in the process of writing a sequel, Life After Shattered, which she hopes to publish.
Hilda, 69, will celebrate her golden wedding to husband Bill in April next year. They have one son and two grandchildren. Hilda, who went to Middleton Secondary Modern, said: "We got married in a time when you had to give and take and not just stamp off just because you couldn't have your own way. We didn't have a lot, so you had to stick together. I can remember Sandra going to work and me looking after the kids. You had to juggle things.
"I've been friends with Sandra since I was six or seven years-old. We've always been honest with each other and if any of us ever need any help, then one of us will be there. It's just a shame we've all had to get old."
They may have changed in appearance (just a little) but one thing remains constant: their joy and friendship for each other.
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Friday 18 May 2012
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