Peter Rhodes on weddings, memories and plenty of give and take
A stroll down memory lane. I entered journalism in 1969 as a trainee reporter on a local newspaper and was soon assigned to cover golden weddings. There were a lot of them in those days, mainly because 50 years earlier, in 1919, the lads had come home from the First World War and married their sweethearts.
I became a bit of an expert on golden weddings. I prided myself on writing the answer to the Big Question in my notebook (“Plenty of give and take”) before even asking the Big Question (“So what is the secret of a long and happy marriage?”).
Those lovely old couples offered the Press a sherry or two, brought out their photo albums, trawled through their memories, smiled sweetly for the camera, and spoke proudly of the achievements of their children and grandchildren. The Nikon clicked and another tale of spending half a century together, through thick and thin, Depression and Blitz, and always with plenty of give and take, was recorded for posterity.
