Hartlepool couple who met at the Queens Rink celebrate their super 70th wedding anniversary

Kenny and Eileen Heslop started going out with each other after meeting at the now demolished Queens Rink Ballroom, in Clarence Road, Hartlepool, and were wed on September 2, 1950.

They are marking their platinum anniversary with a fish and chip meal with their family and may “even enjoy a couple of sherries” each.

Asked about the secret of their 70 years of marriage, Kenny, 92, said: “We never fall out. We always have a good discussion about everything and talk things through.

"It has been a good time. It does not seem like 70 years. Where have all the years gone?”

The couple were married at Holy Trinity Church, in Consett, where 91-year-old Eileen is originally from.

Kenny said: “She was visiting a friend and used to go to the Queens on a weekend for a dance. I thought she was a nice person with a lovely personality.”

They have lived virtually all their married lives in Greatham and have three children.

David, 69, a retired cafe owner, lives in Middlesbrough, Steven, 60, lives in Seaton Carew and works for Hartlepool manufacturing company Expanded Metal, while daughter Carole Borwell, 59, is a retired secretary living in Billingham.

The couple also have four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Carole said: “They did not want a big day but they are really looking forward to their fish and chips with the family as they have not been able to get out as much as they could because of the covid situation.

"They might even enjoy a couple of sherries as well.”

Kenny served as a lance corporal with the Royal Army Medical Corps and Parachute Regiment at the end of the Second World War before becoming an engineering fitter.

Eileen was a nurse at Shotley Bridge, near Consett, and also worked at the Aladdin thermos flask making factory, in Hartlepool, before bringing the children up.

Asked who the boss was, Kenny replied: “There are no bosses in here. It is a democracy. The children keep us right.”

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