Love at first sight leads to platinum celebration

Frederick and Evelyn Robinson met 72 years ago when Fred moved to the Black Country from south Wales to find work.

He said it was love at first sight when he, aged 18, met 16-year-old Evelyn in 1941.

Fred, now 89, said: "I never looked at another woman after that, and we've been together 72 years.

"Staying together is all about give and take – I give and she takes.

"We are quite compatible really."

The retired jewellery firm manager mov-ed from a place near Port Talbot to work as a lathe turner in Langley after he had spent two years in the merchant navy, which was when he met his wife, now aged 87.

They got married in a registry office in Oldbury on June 19, 1943, and have never looked back.

He said: "I would like to say we have never had a row in our lives, but that wouldn't be quite true.

"We've had quite a good life really. We are not rich by any means, but we've had a good life.

"We are happy, and managing okay."

The couple, from Fairway Road in Oldbury, who have two children, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, will be going for a meal to mark the milestone.

They will have a joint celebration with more than 20 members of their family on Fred's 90th birthday in July.

Some will be flying from abroad for the special occasion.

It will be their third such celebration in the past 20 years, after having parties for both their golden and diamond wedding anniversaries.

Fred said they had a card from Her Majesty the Queen on their 60th anniversary, and are now expecting one next week too. The couple got married in the midst of war, which Fred said was not unusual but nothing like the weddings of today when brides and grooms will spend tens of thousands of pounds. He said: "There were lots of marriages during wartime because lots of us in forces were doing it before they went overseas.

"I did go overseas, but after the war in 1946, because we were both based at home.

"The wedding was very 'utility', there wasn't much, the money was scarce and we were on a very, very low wage. I had a suit from the '50 shilling tailor', and Evelyn didn't have a dress, she had a two-piece suit instead.

"The reception took place at the local pub, called The Barrel in Langley, with around 30 people."