Bristol couple celebrate 60 years of marriage together
Dorothy, now 79, and Gilbert, 80, of Tyning Road, Knowle, lived in the same street and went to Parson Street School in Bedminster.
Out of school they used to play together and remember swinging across the Malago brook on a rope tied to a tree.
They got engaged at 16. Gilbert said: "I always had a soft spot for Dorothy. I remember seeing her one Saturday morning on her way to dance in a show. She was walking down the street in a blue suede costume and all the lads were giving her wolf whistles. I told them, 'She's mine'."
Gilbert, joined the 1st Battalion Gloucester Regiment in 1949. When he came home on leave before being posted to Malaya, he married Dorothy by special licence at St Aldan's Church in Chessel Street, Bedminster on September 17.
Dorothy said: "I had a collapsed lung probably caused by TB and was quite ill. I weighed only 5st 4lb when I got married and had to get back into bed afterwards."
Gilbert said: "Like everything else, it hasn't been easy but it's still been a good journey."
They went on to have two children, Sally and James, and three grandchildren, Simon Katy and Joey.
Gilbert worked as a bricklayer and Dorothy worked as a nurse for 20 years.
Gilbert was in a folk band called the Chewton Bunny Wanderers in the 70s and 80s. He played the accordion and the band toured the pubs of Bristol and surrounding area.
The couple say they are still as much in love now as when they were young.
Gilbert said: "We have had a good life together and looking forward to more to come."
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