Mirfield couple celebrate 70th wedding anniversary

John and Margaret Prentice on their wedding day, September 6th, 1952

The couple, helped by family and friends, celebrated with an afternoon tea party at St Mary’s Church Hall in Mirfield before heading to Porthmadog in North Wales with their beloved Boxer dog, Jamie, and their son Stephen and daughter-in-law Eve for a relaxing break.

John, 92, a former electrician, first met Margaret, 93, in 1949 while they both worked for Dewhurst Mill in Elland. They married three years later at St John’s Church in West Vale on September 6, 1952.

Seventy years on, they have revealed the secret to a long and happy marriage.

John and Margaret Prentice with their beloved Boxer dog, Jamie

John said: “It is about companionship, friendship and caring for each other. We laugh together and we cry together. We fall out and we fall back in.

“Although it’s now easier to realise that the lady is always right, and you know when to keep your mouth shut!

“But I wouldn’t do anything different if I could start again.”

Margaret added: “Just being there is enough. I know that John is always there backing me up and by my side.”

The relationship may not have blossomed as it has, as the couple had to overcome some obstacles.

John explained: “We met properly on a work outing to Blackpool but I was poorly in bed, so Margaret told the driver to go and pick me up. We then spent the day together and the rest is history.

“But I was brought up Methodist and Margaret was Church of England so I couldn’t marry her unless I changed. I have always done as I am told!

“On the wedding day, I was sat on the front row and the vicar said: ‘I can’t marry you. Margaret has forgotten her wedding bands.’ I thought I’d escaped! But we got them in the end.”

The couple’s four-year old Boxer dog, Jamie, is a special component of their lives and John, who walks him twice a day, admitted that the residents of Mirfield recognise his treasured pet over Margaret and himself.

He said: “He is a massive part of our life. Nine o’clock in the morning and 3 o’clock in the afternoon I will take him out.

"People seem to know who Jamie is more than they know us!”