Grantham couple celebrate 70 years of happy marriage
A COUPLE who met as teenagers will be celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, February 28.
Doris and Bill Maltby, of Manners Street, Grantham, never imagined they would be celebrating their Platinum Wedding Anniversary.
Doris said: “Time goes so quickly, I definitely didn’t expect to see 70 years of marriage.
“I don’t know what the secret of a happy marriage is. You just live together and get used to each other. I don’t think there’s any secret.”
Doris met Bill in 1940 when she was playing in the Carnival Band at Westgate Hall, which is now Vibe Nightclub.
She said: “The leader of the band asked the soldiers to come in and watch us. We saw each other and it just carried on from there.”
Bill added: “We played darts together after the band practice.”
Two years later, Bill, then 20, and Doris, 19, married at St Wulfram’s Church.
Doris said: “It was a very nice ceremony. And for our honeymoon we went to see my uncle in Nottingham on the Sunday and then went to see Bill’s mother at Ryhall, near Stamford. We stayed there until Thursday when Bill had to go back to the army. When he had to go back, he had to go back.”
Bill stayed in the army until the day of Doris’ 21st birthday when he was injured and had to leave. He served and Dunkirk and then was sent to North Africa.
The couple stayed at Doris’ mother’s house when they first got married before getting their own home a few doors away.
They had four children; David, Wendy, Graham and Gordon. And they now also have nine grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren, who they see quite regularly.
Doris said: “Family is a big part of our lives.”
They will celebrate their anniversary with their family.
Bill said: “They’ve kept it quiet but from the whispers I think we are having two parties.”
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Friday 25 May 2012
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