The day a Hartlepool couple flew from Greatham Airport to start their honeymoon

And the rest of the wedding party came along to the aerodrome to watch as the plane took off for Jersey.

We are indebted to Lesley Turnbull who shared these wonderful photos and memories of her parents Robert Edward Turnbull and Mary Blackwood.

She replied after we published a series of photos which showed the era when Greatham airport was flying to a number of destinations.

Lesley’s parents made the front page of the Northern Daily Mail on Monday, September 8, 1947, as they boarded the plane, but the wonderful story had another remarkable tale to tell.

Lesley told us: “The wedding of my parents was quite a day! In fact it was a double wedding as my fathers sister was married at the same time. The weddings were at Stranton Church and hundreds of people attended.

"As the weddings involved three families (Turnbull Blackwood and Elstob) it is not difficult to see why so many people were invited. After a jolly good reception in the Masonic Hall in Hartlepool, the wedding party adjourned to Greatham Aerodrome to see the spectacle of the plane taking off.”

The Second World War had only ended two years earlier and the honeymoon in Jersey was quite an experience.

Lesley said: “In 1947, just two years after the German occupation ended in May 1945, Jersey still bore the scars of the war. My mother told me that many buildings were boarded up and public access to many coastal areas was forbidden because the beaches had land mines. Hardly romantic you might say.

"I don't think that my mam and dad expected it to be quite like that.

“Undeterred by this, over the next 10 years or so, they returned to Jersey and Guernsey many times and after 1953 I joined them, until one day in 1959 my father decided that it would be a good idea to go on a foreign holiday to Majorca.

"This was another pioneering journey and quite a few years before package holidays became popular.

"I remember clearly (even though it was a long time ago) we flew from Newcastle to London, London to Paris, Paris to Barcelona and Barcelona to Palma, Majorca. We were travelling for almost 24 hours with six hours flying time included.

“Sadly my dad's life was short, he died in 1970 aged 49. My mam died in 1999 aged 76.

“My father’s sister, Olga Turnbull, married Bert Wilson Elstob. They emigrated to New Zealand in 1956 with their two daughters, Susan and Patricia. Both Olga and Bert died in New Zealand in the early 2000's and they are survived by their two daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren.”

Elsewhere in that day’s Northern Daily Mail, wool blankets were 17 shillings at Binns and there was a public notice of a free demonstration of dressmaking in the Wesley Hall.

Bilsland’s biscuits and Creamola pudding were all the rage and there was a warning for people not to do their washing under running water because it wasted coal and water.

Do you remember Hartlepool after the war and flying out of Greatham airport? Tell us more by emailing [email protected]

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