'She is gorgeous': Couple who met on Wrekin celebrates 65 years of marriage
When Arthur Ball saw Noreen Tranter on The Wrekin he was struck by how gorgeous she was – and he still thinks that six decades later.
In time-honoured fashion he carved their initials on a tree and now the couple, from Ketley Town, are having a bash for family and friends as they celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary.
"We met on The Wrekin on a Whit Monday holiday. She is gorgeous, and that's what I thought when I saw her on The Wrekin," said Arthur.
He made small talk, and it all started from there.
"We sat down by a tree and I put my initials and her initials on it," he said.
"She lived at Pool Hill, Dawley, and was working at the pyjama factory in Dawley. I was working at Glynwed. She was a nice girl, lovely looking."
They married after he came out of the Army after serving in Korea.
"I was in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry but the Durham Light Infantry was understrength and I was attached to them. I was Mentioned in Despatches. One of my mates was shot through the mouth, down his back and down his legs, and I carried him for about a mile on my shoulders at a place called Hill 355.
"As soon as I came back from Korea in 1953, we were married at Doseley Church on August 21, 1954. I had to go and have three or four pints before I went in to the wedding to give me a bit of courage.
"She is a brilliant cook. She loved dancing, but I didn't, I was all sports. We went on to have four children, Robert, Steven, Carolyn and Jonathan, and have grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We have spent 65 years of being very happily married."
Arthur is now 86 and Noreen is 84. Their celebratory gathering for their 65th anniversary – commonly called a blue sapphire anniversary or sky blue anniversary – is at the Hadley Park Hotel in Hadley on Saturday, August 24.
And are those carved initials still on a tree on The Wrekin?
"I don't know. I've never been up since."
