Cinema trip led to love for diamond pair

A trip to the cinema more than six decades ago led to love for a couple who have celebrated their Diamond Wedding.

Joe and Marion Smith, of Batley, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last Thursday.

Mr Smith was on his way to play cricket when his future wife asked him for directions as he waited at the bus stop 65 years ago.

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He knew Mrs Smith worked at a cinema in Birstall at the time, and asked if she would be at the kiosk that evening.

Mr Smith, 81, said: “I remembered she worked at the Princess Cinema in Birstall.

“I just asked her, ‘Are you working tonight?’

I said, ‘I might see you later’, and that’s how it happened.”

After cricket, Mr Smith went to the pictures.

He said: “She was in the kiosk.

“She let me in for nothing.

“I went upstairs when she’d finished.

“When she came out we sat together and then I walked her home. We were both 16.”

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The couple were married at St John’s Church, Carlinghow, on May 19, 1956.

Mr and Mrs Smith had three sons, Raymond 59, Keith 55 and Stephen 52, Smith, and have two grandchildren, Josh, 24, and Jamie, 26.

Mr Smith worked as a crane driver before being employed at Kirklees Chemicals as a yard foreman for 23 years up until his retirement.

The couple, who have lived on Ealand Crescent, Batley, for more than 40 years, celebrated their milestone with a family meal.

When asked the secret to a happy marriage for sixty years, Mrs Smith, 81, said: “Doing things together.

“Every decision we make we make both together.”

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