'I met my husband 40 years ago after placing an advert in the dating section of the Express & Star and it's been so brilliant'
It was more than 40 years ago that an advert placed in the dating section of the Express & Star led to two soul mates from Walsall finding each other.
Julia Westwood, from Darlaston, said she had been persuaded by her friends to put an advert in the Express & Star back in 1985 when the paper was running a dating section and had decided it was worth trying out.
That advert led to a number of messages being sent to her from potential suitors, with William Westwood being one of them, and Ms Westwood said that she had liked the look of him and so they started messaging each other.
She said: "I didn't go out a lot at the time and I didn't drink, so a couple of my friends said I should give it a go and I thought why not, so I put out an advert in the paper, where you had to write a description of what sort of person you were, what sort of person you were looking for and send a photo in.
"They then sent letters to you at a PO Box address and you get to decide if you want to reply back and send a letter to them, as there wasn't any internet or anything like that, so you would keep sending letters to each other.
"I got a letter from William and we messaged each other back and forth and then decided to meet up for the first time and just hit it off from there."
Ms Westwood said she had written in her advert that she was a trustworthy and honest person who liked outdoor activities, such as camping, and that she had wanted to meet someone who she could spend the rest of her life with.
That turned out to be William Westwood, with the couple first meeting in August 1985 and marrying in February 1986 and going onto have three children and eight grandchildren.
With her husband now retired, Ms Westwood said they were looking forward to spending a lot more time together, with a family celebration taking place around the time of their 40th anniversary.
She said she would be forever thankful that she took a chance on writing that advert and that the dating section had existed in the Express & Star at the time.
She said: "It's brilliant and, to be honest, I don't think I would be in the position I'm in now without that section as I didn't go out, I didn't drink and I wasn't the sort of person who would be meeting people in pubs and clubs, so I wanted to make sure that it was the right person and clearly it was."
