Scarborough couple celebrate their 70th anniversary

Jack and Kathleen Oates, 90 and 91 respectively, got married on 24 July 1948 in a village church in West Yorkshire.

Kathleen said: “When we got married we had ration books and your name was at the front. We were fortunate enough to have somebody that let us borrow their car to go on our honeymoon and I was worried sick because my book was in my maiden name and I thought that people wouldn’t think that we were married.

"That’s what worried me as we were traveling down to Rhyl for our honeymoon.”

“We remember the details”, said Jack, “it was a rainy day and we got married at 10 o’clock in the morning.”

As a married couple, the pair went on to buy a house and do various different jobs and eventually moved to Scarborough in 1958.

Since 2004 they have been living at Wandales Court, a Sheltered Housing Scheme in Burniston.

They said: “It’s wonderful, we’re very pleased. We have the nicest location, on the ground floor with a lovely seating area outside. We’ve made a lot of friends, two of them never go to town shopping without asking us if we want anything and we’ve been accepted very well.”

Speaking of their 70 years together Kathleen said: “We’ve had our ups and downs, we never thought we’d get this far but we met some good people along the way who helped us and guided us, so we think we made a good job of it.”

Jack added: “The only advice I can give to people is: never go to bed not talking. If you have a disagreement sort it out before you go to bed and if you disagree sometimes you just have to agree to disagree. That’s better than arguing it out.”

To celebrate their milestone, Jack and Kathleen organised a party with friends, family and neighbours.

Katie Marcou, manager of Wandeles Court, said: “We’re really happy to be here celebrating with them. It feels very special. They’re such a devoted couple and they’re a really key part of our community.”.