Love story

But are we becoming too blase about the whole thing?

A headline-hitting marriage arranged by a Birmingham radio station, between a couple who had never met, had church officials condemning all involved for making a mockery of the marriage vows.

Is the thought of a quickie divorce lurking in the back of the minds of the bride and groom as they stand at the altar - just in case "things don't work out".

This Sunday is Valentine's Day - a day when our normally British stiff upper lips turn all quivery at the thought of true love.

And one lady who'll be sure of a day filled with wine and roses is 60-year-old Dorothy Fell, from Harwood - her husband of 42 years, Eddie, will make sure of that. In a world of divorce, trial separations and "open marriages", Dorothy and Eddie's love story isn't anything out of the ordinary.

It's comfortable, familiar and secure - although not without its ups and downs.

But it's one to warm even the coldest of hearts this Valentine's Day.

Eddie first set eyes on Dorothy in the August of 1952 - he was a 14-year-old butcher's boy and she was just 13.

"He was on this big old bicycle delivering meat," smiles Dorothy, "when he spotted me."

"As soon as I saw her," remembers Eddie, a quietly spoken man who's eyes follow his wife's every move, "I thought 'that's the girl I'm going to marry'. She was lovely, really pretty."

But of course age was an issue and it was a good few years until they had their first date.

They met up again when Dorothy was 16, "I think we were at a dance at Formby Hall in Atherton," says Dorothy, " and he asked me if I would go to the pictures with him. Of course I sad 'yes'," she giggles.

True love blossomed as the young couple enjoyed evenings at the cinema and long bike rides during the day. But their idyllic courtship soon came to abrupt end when Dorothy discovered she was pregnant. Without hesitation, Eddie asked her to marry him.

"We knew it was going to come as a shock to our parents," she says, "I mean, I was just 18 and Eddie 19 - looking back we were so young."

Eddie told his parents and Dorothy, an only child, nervously told hers. Luckily both sets soon got over the shock and accepted the situation - something the local gossips couldn't, or wouldn't, do.

"Oh it was terrible," Dorothy remembers with a shudder, "you'd think we'd committed a murder. In those days pregnancy out of wedlock was considered sinful and disgusting."

The couple married on February 9, 1957 at Shuttle Street Methodist Chapel in Tyldesley when Dorothy was five months pregnant.

"I wore a dusky pink suit and hat," she laughs, "and I didn't even have to get a bigger size because I was suffering with terrible morning sickness."

"She looked lovely," smiles Eddie, "I couldn't take my eyes off her."

After the wedding, they set off for a honeymoon in Morecambe. Memories of this brings hoots of laughter from the couple as they recall the fiasco of getting to their destination.

"It took three hours and four separate trains to get there," laughs Dorothy.

"And our boarding house cost the princely sum of £1 10s a night," adds Eddie, "but we had a wonderful time." "We thought we'd gone to somewhere really exotic," laughs Dorothy, now an energetic grandmother to Samantha.

But the honeymoon was soon over and the couple moved in with Dorothy's parents who lived in a council house in Mosely Common.

Eddie was an apprentice joiner and their son, Howard was born on June 12, 1957.

However, they were determined to own their own home. "We had struggled like mad and just managed to scrape together enough money for a tiny house of our own when Eddie was called up for National Service," says Dorothy.

Meanwhile her parents had moved to South Wales, leaving her with the tenancy of the house.

"The rent was £1 1s 6d," she says, "and Eddie's wage from the army was £1 10s - not much left out of that.

"It was tough to make ends meet and the fact I was missing Eddie like mad didn't help much," she sighs. "I felt as though we'd hardly spent any time together.

"Although when we did meet up we seemed to argue, I suppose it was the strain of being apart so soon after getting married.

"I remember after one particular argument Eddie said 'that's it, I'm leaving you' and off he went to his mum and dad's.

"But his dad just said 'you've made your bed, now lie in it' - I think he was back home in time for his tea." To cut a long story short, it was tough for a young mum on her own.

"We were both very young," says Eddie, who now works as a housing inspector, "I don't think we realised how difficult it was going to be.

"I mean, a few months before all I had to worry about was going out and having fun.

"Now I had a wife and young son to support."

But Dorothy continued to feel isolated and moved to Wales to be with her parents and near to Eddie.

Fifteen years later the family returned to Bolton and settled in Harwood.

"We were pretty secure financially," says Dorothy, "and had a strong and happy marriage."

In November of last year the couple took separate holidays for the first time.

Eddie went to Australia to watch the cricket with some pals while Dorothy visited San Fransisco with her sister-in-law. They were apart for six weeks.

"It was horrible," shudders Dorothy, "I missed him so much," she says, looking over at her husband. "Never again."

"I phoned her up every single day," smiles Eddie, "I just needed to hear her voice. All my pals were making fun of me but I didn't care."

As Dorothy flew into Heathrow from America, Eddie flew out the same airport to Australia.

"To know he was in the departure lounge while I was in arrivals was heartbreaking," says Dorothy, "I wanted to run over and hug him. But of course I couldn't." When Eddie returned, just before Christmas, the couple fell into each other's arms.

"We couldn't stop hugging each other," smiles Dorothy, visibly filling up at the memory, "we were like a courting couple all over again."

"It made us realise how lucky we are," says Eddie, looking round their impeccable detached bungalow.

"But it also made us realise that every marriage is worth working at. When the chips are down it's too easy to say 'that's it', we could have done that so many times."

Dorothy agrees: "Looking back there were times I thought we'd never make it.

"But, you see, I was a young mum and dependent on Eddie financially.

"I suppose these days women can look after themselves - they've got money, good jobs, cars - when I was young I had to rely on my husband,

"But," she says, giving Eddie's hand a squeeze, "I'm so glad I did."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.