A couple from Bristol are celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary today ( Tuesday, October 18) and have told how the secret of a long-lasting marriage is to never go to bed angry at each other. Norman and Anne Tilling (née Jarrett), who grew up in the St George/Whitehall area of the city and now live in Longwell Green, married on Anne's 18th birthday in 1947 at Wesley Methodist Church, between St George and Hanham.
The couple met aged 16 and 14 respectively at a local ballroom dance class and, according to daughter Wendy, her dad regularly mentions how he "looked across the room and told his friend 'that's the girl I'm going to marry'". They were engaged not long after and, six years later, they had married and had two children - a son named David and a daughter named Wendy.
They now have four grandchildren and five great grandchildren, who they say bring them great joy. Wendy says her father began working when he was 14 years old, starting "at the very bottom" and "working his way up to become a managing director of a business".
Wendy also says that her parents were "very unusual for those days", adding: "When I was two she was one of the first married women to be accepted for teacher training and went on to become the youngest headteacher in Bristol. I think my Dad was unusual too because in those days women did not go out to work after they had children and certainly not to train for a profession, but my Dad was always supportive.
"Mum taught me that being female had nothing to do with it and if I had an ambition I should go for it and not let gender get in the way. I think she was feminist before it was invented! But again, so was my Dad because they weren’t the conventions of the time."
Norman and Anne, who are aged 95 and 93 respectively, love travelling and were able to retire early and enjoy many adventures to places such as Thailand, Africa and Russia. Though they say that it was an extremely uncommon occurrence at the time and Norman would often drive all the way to a destination (like Russia) back then.
Nowadays, the couple love spending time with family and got together with their children and in-laws to celebrate the momentous occasion with a glass of bubbly over the weekend. Wendy says that her father gave her mother his heart at the age of sixteen and that "has never changed".
And the secret to their long and successful marriage? Well Norman says it is "to never let the sun go down on an argument", while Anne agreed: "We always promised each other that we would never go to sleep on our anger, with each other, and we never have."
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