Secret love note couple 'Saudi Bill and Scarlett' celebrate diamond anniversary

Bill Wood, of Brierley Hill, admitted the secret of a long and happy marriage was prioritising the other person over yourself.

Fresh out of the National Service in Egypt, Mr Wood met Sheila Hickman, a tailoress in Dudley, when he was 20 and she was 17, at the Saltwell Inn.

Now 85-years-old, he joked back then it was a ‘one-sided love at first sight encounter’, and added: “The first time I saw her I thought that lass is the girl I’m going to introduce to my mum.

“Because I’ll never introduce a girl to my mum unless I’m going to marry her.

“I’m a hell of a romantic you know.”

Soon the one-sided love was felt both sides, and the pair became Mr and Mrs Wood on March 15, 1958, marrying at St Augustine’s Church, Holly Hall, followed by a reception at the Station Hotel in Dudley.

Mr Wood said: “Think about the other person more than yourself. She thinks the world of me as I do her. We’ve got on as a pretty good team. I’ve really enjoyed my marriage.”

Shortly after marrying, the couple moved into The Plantation at Pensnett, a new development at the time, where they still live today.

Mr Wood worked at the Steelworks in Dudley until his redundancy in 1982. He then was head hunted by another steelworks in Saudi Arabia, where he moved for five years in 1983.

Due to the young age of their sons, Stuart and Darren, Mrs Wood stayed in the UK with the children and went out to visit her husband regularly.

That was when the ‘Saudi Bill’ and ‘Scarlett’ nicknames came about, with Mr Wood writing to his wife via the Express & Star notices page on Valentine’s Day every year while he was in Saudi Arabia, which continued for three decades.

The couple enjoyed a anniversary meal at The Bell at Belbroughton with sons Stuart, 53, and Darren, 50, and grandchildren William, 15, and Issy, 11.