It’s another couple of years before we celebrate our next significant wedding anniversary, but we were invited to the celebrations of two other couples this year. First it was Dave and Rosemary Playle; celebrating 60 years of marriage. We gathered with their family and friends in a golf clubhouse Ashton under Lyne. We met up with people we hadn’t seen for many years. Dave was the pastor who married us in 1971. He had been Barrie’s pastor in Yorkshire and then Joan’s in Brownhills. One surprise of the party was meeting their son, Andrew and his wife, Teresa, only to find they had recently moved into the next street to ours. The year Joan and I first met was the year Andrew was born, 50 years ago. This highlights that in 2019 we marked 50 years since we first met, followed shortly afterwards by man’s first steps on the moon.

In October we were in another golf clubhouse near Pocklington in East Yorkshire to celebrate with Colin and Rhona Stanbury. It was 40 years since we witnessed their wedding in Harrogate. So again we met up with their children and mutual friends and caught up with stories from the times we were together all those years ago and the things that had shaped their lives since. 

We frequently get together with Colin and Rhona along with Richard and Jenny Dean for a day out and a meal – resurrecting the friendship we shared during our days leading Harrogate Christian Fellowship in the 70s and 80s.