'Don't argue' say Louth's 'diamond' couple

Brian and Elsie Wegner are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary, and the couple were first introduced by friends who were getting married and had asked them to be bridesmaid and best man respectively.

Elsie, 80, said: "I said I wanted to meet him before the wedding, and he was quite rough when we first met!"

The couple were then set up on a date at a club known locally as the ‘Bucky’ in Hull, where they were both living at the time, quickly fell in love.

They were married on September 14, 1963, at the Presbyterian Church on Holderness Road in Hull, and their children Raymond, now 55, Malcolm, 54, and Susan, 50, were born shortly after. Their first child, a daughter called Marlene, sadly died shortly after birth.

After their wedding, the couple lived with Elsie mother for a time before they rented the house next door, and then moved to Louth in 1969 – but didn't go on their honeymoon until 25 years later!

"We went on a honeymoon to Blackpool once the children were older, and we've been every year since," Brian said, “But the last time we went last year was a Turkey and Tinsel trip and it was so cold!”

The couple worked in factories over the years, with Brian working in Fenners tyre factory in Hull, and he recalls being able to drive a forklift without a license.

Elsie worked at a painting factory, as well as a bingo caller, for a number of years.

Brian, 85, looks back fondly on his time in the Army as part of his National Service. He was first called up at the age of 18 in 1956, and learned to drive in a three-ton Bedford lorry before being trained to drive tanks.

When asked what their secret to a long and happy marriage was, Elsie said “don’t argue!” which Brian heartily agreed with:

"I can honestly say that in 60 years, we’ve never argued," he said, "my mother and father would argue quite a lot and I said I wouldn’t be like that.

"It’s pointless having an argument, if you don’t agree with something, just turn away, – if we feel like we're about to argue, we’ll just not talk for a bit and then we’re fine.”