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Search forDiamond wedding delight for the sisters who married on same day
Thursday, July 03, 2008, 07:30
Joyce and Mary Frow walked down the aisle at St Mary's Church, Tutbury, on July 3, 1948, either side of their father, Ted, to marry Ken McLeod and Alan Price respectively.
The wedding was made even more special as Joyce's new husband, Ken, had survived the wartime RAF Fauld explosion, the largest ever to occur on British soil, in which the sisters' brother, Lewis, died.
Six decades later, both couples said they were delighted to reach the milestone of their diamond anniversary after coping with the “high and lows” of marriage.
Joyce, 81, a former shop assistant, said: “You go into a marriage knowing it's for life, or at least you should do. I'm afraid a lot of people don't do that these days.
“You obviously have your ups and downs, but you work at it.”
Mary, 80, said: “You have to take things day by day. I don't think people have the patience for a long marriage these days. You work through your difficulties and get on with life.
“Everyone has their hard times and their good times.”
Both sisters said the 1944 explosion had a huge effect on their family.
Lewis, a 15-year-old trainee electrician, had been working underground at the RAF munitions depot when the explosion happened.
Official casualty lists show 90 people were killed, missing or injured. Lewis' body was one of 18 which were never found.
Ken, a retired civil servant originally from Scotland, was one of the last five people to get away from the depot.
He met Joyce at a dance in Fauld in May 1945 – six months after the disaster – held to mark VE Day.
Ken, 85, of Tutbury Road, Horninglow, said: “We've had sacks of arguments but it's all forgotten later. I do not believe anyone who says they have not had a few cross words.”
Mary, of New Road, Hilton, met Alan, 82, who worked as a fitter for a Derbyshire dairy, through his aunt, who lived in Tutbury, where the sisters grew up.
They have two children, John, 58, and Pete, 48, along with grandchildren Samuel, 13, and Kate, 9.
The couples celebrated at the weekend with a family gathering at Hilton House Hotel, in Main Street, Hilton. They also received messages from the Queen.
Today, Joyce and Ken, who enjoy doing crosswords together every morning, plan to have “a bit of a knees-up”, while Mary and Alan, who enjoy gardening, are happy to have a quiet night in.
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