A devoted husband and wife from Walney are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary.
Thalia, 79, and Alan Marshall, 83, will be celebrating 60 years as a married couple on Thursday, March 31, with afternoon tea and a few close friends.
They met at a Christmas party in 1961, and were married at the Central Methodist Church (now closed) in Greengate, Barrow, in 1962.
A life on the road followed as the pair followed Alan’s RAF duties around Europe – travel which gave them great enjoyment, but some hair-raising moments too, said Thalia:
“We lived in Gibraltar, Germany and Belgium, but Gibraltar was my favourite – we were based there from 1966 to 1969.
“I’ll never forget, in 1967, a friend decided we should go up the Rock (of Gibraltar) to see the Barbary apes, so of course we did.
“We got up there, I bought an ice cream, and, the next thing, I had these big hairy paws around my neck and big feet around my waist!
“It had jumped on my back, just to get my ice cream, I was absolutely terrified – of course I gave it the ice cream.
“We visited Gibraltar again in the ’80s, and I wish we hadn’t – it had changed beyond belief, it was ruined by all the construction.”
ROCK: The Rock of Gibraltar, Thalia”s favourite destination
A holiday to Tangier in the late ’80s provided another terrifying experience, as Thalia said they landed to find armed soldiers hustling her into an office:
“I was scared silly. It turned out my passport wasn’t valid.
“They asked Alan if he wanted to send me back so he could go on holiday!
“I wasn’t having that, but they were very kind in the end and let me stay, but I did not like having soldiers pointing guns at me!”
Thalia and Alan had 2 sons that followed Alan into the forces – Nigel, born in 1964, joined the RAF, while Aidrian, born in 1965, opted for the Army, and tragically died in 1986 in Germany due to a training accident.
Thalia recalled that harrowing time:
“We received a phonecall on Halloween, and then had to wait until the early hours to be told we need to fly to Germany – Aidrian was in hospital.
“Over the next 2 weeks, there was no improvement, and we were told there was nothing more they could do, that was it.
“It was a nightmare, that fortnight.”
Thalia said the longevity defied the odds, particularly of one critic at the time:
“My father told me we wouldn’t last 6 months, but the poor old soul’s not here now so I can’t say ‘I told you so!’”
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